Writer's Block
by AtomicScribble
Summary: Pebbles never expected her characters to appear,until one night. They become friends, but then the trouble starts...Blends Phantom of the Opera, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride. FIN!
1. Intro

A/N: Yess….the wait is over, my pretties! Writer's Block is now up and running!

Now, WHO WANTS A SUMMARY?-

"Writer's Block is a very blended story about a girl (Whee! That's me!) nicknamed Pebbles, who is a fanfiction writer. One stormy night, she is home alone in the house…she is writing a short, dark oneshot that came into her head…but her characters, along with their matching characters, come to her room, not remembering anything about how they got there!

Everyone becomes fast friends…but then the trouble starts…"

There you have it. This is simply a character update to introduce you guys to the characters.

-Amanda, a.k.a "Pebbles": A young, 12 year old girl. She is a fanfiction writer who puts pieces of herself into her characters, giving them her creative, funny, loving personality. She has light brown hair and brown eyes, with square, light brown glasses and purple and black braces. She lives in Massachusetts.

-Erik: A disfigured man from 1870 who is most commonly known as The Phantom of the Opera. Witty, smart, a musical genius, and charming, he is annoyed easily but takes very fast to those he likes. He has slick, dark brown hair, blue-green eyes; he wears a white half mask on his right, a tux, and black gloves and a black cape.

-Amanda (14 yrs. old): Pebbles' first character and Erik's apprentice; her Opera House nickname is Archer. She shares her 12 year old "little sister's" sense of humor, quick thinking, and love for music, but tends to be reserved. She also shares Pebbles' physical attributes, although she wears contacts and her braces have been long replaced by a retainer. She sports black, curvy sneakers, a long-sleeved black shirt, and an African skirt, along with her elephant-hair bracelet. She lives in Massachusetts.

-Willy Wonka: A bouncy, fun man in his 40's who loves making candy. He is often shunned by others for his quirkiness: he cringes at the sight of braces, and his slang is out-of-date, but he is otherwise fun-loving and nice. (Look up a picture of the 2005 Wonka.) He lives in his factory in London, England.

-Holli Ink: A cute, 12 year old girl who has a passion for playing guitar, chocolate, and Mike Teavee. Always ready to respond, Holli took Pebbles' wittiness, dream looks, and strangeness. She sports a maroon "A Series of Unfortunate Events" T-shirt, jeans, a chain belt, and worn World Industries sneakers; she has dark brown hair with red highlights at the bottom and brown eyes. She lives in Southern California.

-Victor Van Dort: A shy, timid, easily scared young man from 19 century England. Although mostly cautious, he's sweet and will treat you nicely if you let him. Sometimes, though, he can get annoyed, but it's often for a very short time; he can taunt himself if he feels he's done wrong. (Look up a picture of him.) He lives with his rich family and is about to be married.

-Cricket Elliot Finn: Another 12 year old girl who helps coax Victor and does her best to keep her head held high. She took more of Pebbles: she loves everyone and laughs easily; she's headstrong and will always defend those she cares for against the dark and sinister of heart. She has a white T-shirt that says "Chocolate Turtles" on it, jeans, and large, clunky sneakers. She wears a Yellow Livestrong bracelet on her thin right wrist, and has dirty blond hair and striking blue eyes. Her current residence is in Massachusetts.

-Jack: There is currently no information about this character.

w00t! So, there is your list! Keep in mind that Victor and Cricket will always be in stop-motion animation style.

Here are the pairings: Amanda and Erik, Holli and Willy, and Victor and Cricket. Pebbles (ME!) will stand alone for MOST of the story.

So, now, ladies and gentlemen, sit back…

…and enjoy the show.


	2. The Storm

A/N: HOKAY. So, here's the official first chapter! It's a bit vague, but I hope you like it!

And where are you guys? Sorry if there's nothing exciting, but at least leave a little something so I know you haven't died!

The Storm

"Mom, I'll be FINE."

These are the words that Pebbles spoke to her mother on that stormy Friday the 13th.

Her mother grabbed her purse. "Well, alright, Amanda. But we'll call you regularly to check up on you, alright?"

"Okay. You guys go out and have fun."

As her parents drove away, Pebbles closed the door and looked around the empty house. It was around 7:00 at night; she had been fed and had taken a shower; she was now in her purple pajamas. The house was lit up because if the extreme blackness outside. Her parents were going to go have dinner together, and her brother was sleeping over at a friends' house.

So the house was only occupied by her and her miniature, silver, white, and black poodle, Dello.

Pebbles shrugged and headed upstairs, to where her laptop sat, booted up and waiting.

She leaned back in her chair, fiddling with a bracket.

_It IS Friday the 13th…and such a stormy one too…_ she mused.

After a few minutes she let her chair fall back to normal, opened a Microsoft Word document, and started writing.

_

* * *

The girl tugged at the chains surrounding her. The ravens closed in around her, their beaks opening and closing hungrily. There was no one but her, the ravens, and the Queen in the small, slimy, dark room…She let out a deranged scream._

_The Dark Queen, however, only laughed._

"_There is no one who can save you now, girl! You can scream and scream, but you are alone._

Pebbles thought, then grinned evilly and wrote the last sentence, saying the words as she typed,

"The darkness will surround you, it will engulf your mind and the evil will be complete!"

Just then, the lights went out. Her computer screen even went black.

Blindly, she looked around as Dello lifted her head from where she was sleeping on the bed and howled for a minute, then fell silent.

For a full 15 minutes, there were no sounds in the darkness except for Pebbles' heavy breathing.

_That…was weird…_

She then heard a loud thump. It shook the house wildly. It filled Pebbles' ears and caused her to leap out of her seat.

After a few moments, she heard voices.

"Ohh…Archer? Are you there?" This was a man's voice; it was deep and silky.

"Yeah. But…where are we?" This one was like Pebbles' voice, except slightly deeper.

"Well, isn't this weird! Everything's dark!" Another man's voice, but it was high-pitched and childish.

"Okay, I am 3 seconds away from ramming into a wall." A high-pitched, but pleasant girl's voice.

"I-I can't see in the dark! Light a candle!" A teenage boy's voice, heavy with an English accent and high-pitched.

"Oh, shpff. I can see just fine." The last voice was another girl's voice, normal tone and smooth.

There were footsteps, and Pebbles heard a hand moving about the desk. The boy's voice spoke again.

"Good! A desk! But…"

His hand moved over to Pebbles' shoulder, and he yelled.

"Get the hell off me!" Pebbles yelled, her hand flying to the other one.

"Oh my God! Who are you?" The hand was smooth and long, but most of all, it was warm. But Pebbles couldn't register it properly, because the hand flew off and she heard footsteps backing away.

The lights flickered back on.

Pebbles nearly fainted.

Standing before her eyes, was a group of fictional characters. Erik, Amanda, Willy Wonka, Holli, and Cricket all turned to stare. Victor Van Dort, who was the person who had laid his hand on her, was rubbing his hand, trembling visibly.

Pebbles gasped.

"This isn't true…"

A/N: Oh, joy. A band of characters are in my room…

Review, please!


	3. The Explaining

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, peoplez! Anyways, I hope you guys had a happy Thanksgiving, filled with turkey…and...other food!

The Explaining

"Oh my…" Pebbles covered her mouth. "What are you guys doing in my room?"

Erik looked from Amanda/Archer to Pebbles and back. "You two look like you might be related," he said thoughtfully.

Pebbles rolled her eyes. "Well, that's because…"

She stopped mid-sentence. How was she going to explain to these people that they weren't real, let alone she herself created the other Amanda, Holli, and Cricket? Most importantly, how was she going to explain it to her parents?

No. Her parents couldn't find out.

"Alright, just…take a seat," she said, waving her hands. "Everyone. All of you."

After looking about for a few seconds, everyone grabbed a place to sit. Willy Wonka sat on the floor, Holli behind him on the footstool near the bed. Erik nabbed some of the pillows and sat on them, with one leaning behind him, and Amanda grabbed the beanbag chair and dragged it over with the others. Victor, who was thoroughly unsure of what to do, sat next to Cricket on the bed, still trembling.

Pebbles sighed and gazed around the room at everyone in turn.

Finally she said, "This may sound crazy, but…" She pointed to Victor. "Victor here is possibly the only one who knows what's going on."

Victor made a face and stopped trembling. "Why me?"

Pebbles explained to him that he was the only fictional character in the room that knew he wasn't really existent, which was sort of an understatement considering that _he was sitting on the bed right in front of her!_ Holli put up a bit of an argument when she was told that Pebbles created her, but eventually she grasped the fact and fell silent again. Pebbles also explained the confusing topic about how Erik was considered to be real in some people and fake in others, but his "version" of the Phantom of the Opera was thought the most to be fake.

After she was done explaining, Willy took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's weird," he said quietly.

Amanda looked up. "You've got a funny haircut," she giggled.

Pebbles and Willy spoke at once, "I do NOT!"

They glanced at each other.

Holli shrugged. "Well, we might as well make ourselves at home here."

* * *

After about an hour of arranging things, everything was set. Pebbles had grabbed enough pillows, blankets, and cushions to make a bed for each of the characters. Erik, who didn't sleep often, had a bed tucked away in case he got tired. Amanda slept in the corner with Holli. Cricket slept in the other corner across from them. Victor was straight in front of the dresser, the bed on his left. (So the dresser is on the right, the bed on the left, and a small walkway in the middle. That's where Victor is.) Willy slept in the corner next to the desk. 

All in all, everyone was comfortable.

But then the phone rang.

"Guys, guys, be quiet!" Pebbles said, reaching for the phone. "Hello?"

"Amanda! It's Dad!"

"Hey, Dad! What do you need?"

"Just wanted to check up on you and to say that we'll be home in about five minutes!"

Victor, who had overheard the phone, asked, "Five minutes?"

"Amanda, who was that?"

"Um, that was just the TV," she replied sweetly, casting a shut-up-please-hun look at Victor.

"Oh…so, five minutes."

"Okay. See you then."

She pressed the "Off" button on the phone, a hollow look on her face.

"What? What happened?" asked Cricket uneasily.

"My dad'll be home in five minutes."

There was a silence for 10 seconds, and then Amanda shouted, "Well, let's hide ourselves!"

Even when it had taken them an hour to set up, they quickly tore down each bed and stuffed it in Pebbles' walk-in closet. After a moment of hesitation, Pebbles suggested that they hide in there, too.

"Is there air?" Willy asked hesitantly, eyeing the closet with suspicion.

"Yeah, of course!" Pebbles told him, ushering him into the closet and closing the door slightly as her parents unlocked the front door.

"Amanda! We're home!"

Pebbles ran out of her room to greet them. "Oh, hi! How was dinner?"

"It was…okay," her mother said, bending down to greet Dello, who was leaping at their feet. "Did she go out?"

"Yeah, I took her. Can you take her out again?"

"Yes, dear."

Pebbles breathed a sigh of relief and walked back up to her room, quietly shutting the door and opening the closet.

Erik walked out and took a deep breath. "It's VERY crowded in there," he said, brushing himself off.

"I'll say!" Holli replied, walking out behind Willy.

Pebbles made a shh-ing gesture. "Keep it down until my parents are asleep, all right?" she whispered. "Then we can have a party."

* * *

A/N: What will the party be like? We can only guess…that is, until next chapter! Review! 


	4. The Party

A/N: All excuses forgiven, Esme's Daughter:-D

Anyway, here's a new chapter. It's a…party?

The Party

At about 11, Pebbles tiptoed out into the hallway, and looked downstairs.

Her brother was asleep.

Then she looked upstairs, into her parents' room.

They were asleep.

Smiling, she closed her door until it was open just a crack, then she walked back down the hallway to her own room, and closed the door.

"Okay, all clear," she said.

Amanda stopped shoving M&M's into her mouth and said, "That's really good, so now I can eat all the food, right?"

"You've had plenty," said Erik, gratefully snatching up the candy bag and starting to eat.

"Well, don't eat it all," Pebbles laughed, bringing out the beds from the closet.

Victor, who, of course, was such a gentleman, (squee!) hurried over. "Can I help you with those?" he asked politely, reaching out to grab a pillow.

"That'd be awesome, Victor, thank you!"

Cricket ran over and held up Victor's arm. "And Victor is the first to be a gentleman; he beats the What's-His-Face of the Whatever!" she exclaimed in a announcer voice.

"He deserves a medal!" Holli giggled, throwing a Tortilla chip at Cricket.

"Come on, girls," Willy laughed, smoothing out his blanket.

When the beds were finally up, everyone got comfortable. Pebbles snuggled in between Victor and Erik, Holli sat next to Willy, who sat next to Cricket, who sat next to…well, YOU finish the chain.

But Pebbles had to leave her spot to face the group. "What should we do?" she asked. "Watch a movie? Eat food? Dance?"

"That! That!" Willy cried, bouncing excitedly and pointing at Pebbles.

"What, Dance? Yeah, we can do that! But," she whispered, leaning over, "We have to keep it down, 'kay?"

Victor looked squeamish. "I'm…not a very good dancer," he mumbled.

Willy turned quickly to Victor and said, "Mumbler!"

"Aw, come on, Willy, don't pull that on poor ol' Victor," Pebbles said as she flipped up the lid of her laptop and pressed the "On" button.

Erik shifted uncomfortably. "I can't dance, either," he said.

"That's okay. It's just us," Holli said, putting an arm around Erik. He frowned, but after a minute relaxed a little.

"Now, let's see…" Pebbles mused, flipping through the songs. "'Happy Phantom?' No…'Let Me Go?' Negative..." As she searched, Cricket caught a scratching at the door. "Um…Pebbles?" she asked, tapping Pebbles' shoulder. "Something scratched your door."

Pebbles brightened as she exited her seat. "Be careful," she whispered, pulling a serious face, "This girl can be vicious."

"V-vicious?" Victor stuttered, starting to tremble again. "Just HOW vicious?"

"Vicious enough to bite your leg off," Amanda whispered menacingly, understanding what Pebbles was doing.

"So be careful," Pebbles said, narrowing her eyes.

She opened the door…

…and in came Dello, panting as she ran over and leaped into Willy's lap.

"That's not vicious!" Willy laughed, petting Dello as she tried to lick his face.

"Cute!" Cricket and Holli said together as they knelt by Willy's side.

Victor smiled shakily. "Reminds me of my dog," he said, scratching behind Dello's ears. She barked.

"Yup, that's my dog, Dello," Pebbles giggled, walking over and ruffling Victor's hair. "By the way, how do you get your hair to do that?"

"Water and hair cream," he replied, arranging his hair back to normal.

"Man, I gotta try that sometime," Willy said, examining Victor's hair.

"Music!" Pebbles remembered, giving Dello a kiss before hurrying back to the computer. She kept looking.

Erik walked over and joined her. "These songs have some strange names," he murmured, pointing at "Hollaback Girl" and "Jaws Theme Swimming".

"Well, of course," Pebbles said, still browsing.

After a moment, she cried, "That's it!"

Holli emerged from under the blanket with the bag of marshmallows. "Whazzit?" she asked, her mouth full of marshmallow. Willy tackled her and grabbed a marshmallow, giggling.

"THIS is it," she said, clicking on "Lollipop" by Aqua.

The cutesy piano began to play, and Holli rocketed out. "I love this song!" she said, starting to snap her fingers.

Amanda and Cricket joined in, and eventually all the girls were dancing and singing together.

Willy was silent until the boys' part. Then he actually sung it out, going over to the girls and dancing with them. (HOW is my family sleeping through all of this?)

Erik frowned, but listened carefully to the lyrics. When the second boys' part came along, this time HE belted it out, joining the girls and eventually starting to dance.

So, all in all, everyone was in a giant group, singing and dancing, and Victor was standing a few feet away, looking uneasy and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

When the quieter part came along, Cricket bounced out and grabbed Victor by the wrist. "Come on, just TRY dancing, silly!" she said, yanking Victor into the crowd.

After looking about a few seconds, Victor started to snap his fingers, still looking uneasy. Then he started tapping his feet, too, a grin creeping onto his face.

When the chorus started up again, he really started to dance, moving his body smoothly and even using some of Pebbles' dance moves.

"Well, it's not too bad," he laughed as Cricket hugged him.

The song ended.

"Awww…" Amanda moaned, gazing at the computer screen in disappointment.

"Don't worry, I can get a new song," Pebbles said happily, walking over to the computer screen and browsing again.

"Here," she said, gesturing for Erik to help her.

Erik walked over. He said nothing for a minute as he watched Pebbles try and find a song. When she had highlighted one, Erik covered his mouth in disgust and said, wide-eyed as he spoke, "Oh GOD no!"

"Oh yes," Pebbles giggled as she clicked on the song "My Humps" by The Black-Eyed Peas. (YES, it's a gross song, but it's extremely addicting and good to dance to!)

The trumpet music played. As Erik slunk over to the group, growling, Willy asked, "What did she pick?"

"_My Humps_," Erik spat in reply.

"…ew."

"Cookie to anyone who'll dance to this!" Pebbles exclaimed as she began moving her hips.

Amanda joined in, singing with Pebbles. Cricket bounced in at the chorus, but Holli sat, saying that she'd rather rest.

Victor, looking uneasy again, said, "This is rather…"

"Disgusting? Yes, we all know that," Pebbles sighed as she did a body roll.

Willy shrugged and began dancing again. "Well, it could be worse!" he protested as Erik shot him a dirty look.

Victor sat down next to Holli. "Um…hello," he said hesitantly as the dancing group began belting, "She's got me spendin'…"

"Hey," Holli said quietly, taking a chip from the bag. "Crispy wheat snack?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Chip. You know…"

"Oh. Yes, please."

They began a quiet conversation about school, life, their home stories, etc. as the song wrapped up and Amanda suggested that they watch a movie.

"Which one?" Pebbles said, peering into her movie and video game cabinet.

Willy joined Pebbles in looking. "A Series of Unfortunate Events?" he asked hesitantly, pulling out the movie.

Holli looked up. "Yay! Great movie!" she squealed, pointing to her shirt.

"Well, then, let's," Cricket said. "All in favor, raise your hand.

Willy, Pebbles, Holli, Cricket, and Amanda raised their hands. Erik, starting to cheer up, said, "Well, I guess we can watch it…"

Holli explained the plot to Victor while Amanda booted up Pebbles' Ps2 and TV and popped the movie in.

After a brief argument about sitting spots, Erik let Amanda cuddle up to him in the corner. Willy and Holli sat together, each keeping their distance. Cricket didn't want to sit next to Victor (for reasons that even I, the Authoress, do not know), so she lied on the bed alone. Victor, cringing a little, let Pebbles lean her head on his chest.

After watching the movie and cleaning up the food, everyone bade goodnight to each other and crept into their homemade beds. After an hour, everyone was asleep, except Erik, who kept watch and read some of Pebbles' books, relying on his own night vision and the full moon shining clearly through the clouds.

* * *

A/N: What will happen in the morning? And what's up with the Holli/Victor relationship building here? We will have to wait, now, won't we? –cackle- 

So…isn't that a weirdo partay? I made a weird drawing illustrating it, but it was before I wrote this chapter, so it's different. And it also contains a character that will be introduced MUCH later…

Wow…three pages in MS Word I wrote…


	5. The Pen

A/N: I can bet 10 Tortilla Chips that people are asking WHY the 3 pre-created fictional characters are acting a bit out of character! So, here's an explanation why they aren't:

Erik, if you've read "RunnerUp", you can now tell that he is used to Amanda's quirkiness, therefore the others aren't a scratch on him.

Willy grows on people he likes. Take Charlie for example. He's nice, but Pebbles, Cricket, Holli, and Amanda are more like him, so he can blend more easily. Besides, he STILL isn't hugging people…yet.

Victor is with Cricket, and Cricket encourages him to spread out. In my opinion, he's the least person to expect to be out of character; he's still polite, shy, etc.

So, there you have it: the characters are fine. I myself hate it when they're out of character. :-)

The Pen

The morning and weekend were quite peaceful for the group. On Saturday, everyone was friendly and neutral. This is the order in which they woke up.

6:00 am: Willy wakes up. When asked why, it's because he is used to waking up at this time to make candy.

6:30: Amanda wakes. This is her school time.

7:30: Holli and Cricket awake. The awake group quietly plays cards while waiting for the rest.

8:30: Pebbles awakes. Goes downstairs to eat breakfast and gather food.

9:15: Victor is the last one up. Is playfully teased by Pebbles for his bed-head.

After the fictional group ate breakfast (Pop-Tarts and muffins), they spent the day playing on the computer, reading, napping, and playing more cards. The same went for Sunday, except that the group was home alone for an hour due to Pebbles going to church.

By Monday, it was perfect.

Pebbles woke up at 6:00 to find everyone (including Erik) asleep except for Willy, who was combing his hair.

She yawned. "Morning, crazy candyman."

"Mornin'," Willy replied, smiling at her in the mirror.

"Listen, can you wake everyone early today? I have school and I want to tell them what the deal is."

"Sure."

Pebbles went down to breakfast to find the house still dark and her family still asleep, except for her mother, who went to work early, still getting ready in the master bedroom.

When she headed back upstairs, clean clothes from the laundry in hand and her brother in the shower, she went into her room, closed the door, and turned to find the group,some yawning and gazing about the room sleepily, and others wide-awake, staring at the floor or some other object in the room. At the sound of the door closing, they looked up.

"Why are we up so early?" Victor yawned, scratching his head.

"It's because I want to tell you what will be happening."

"But who's she?" Willy asked, pointing behind Pebbles.

She turned slowly around to find a 21-year-old woman leaning against the door, grinning.

"Oh my gosh! Hi, TK!" She waved enthusiastically.

"Hello, Pebbles. You guys having fun?"

"We're doing great," Erik replied, stretching.

"There's something I want to tell you…"

TK explained to the group that it would be thoroughly boring for the group to simply hang around the house; they needed to get out more. When asked how, she whipped out an ordinary purple pen from her pocket and tossed it to Pebbles.

"This can contain all of your characters, as well as allowing your characters to take your place."

"But…why will I need this?"

"You'll see." With that, TK dissolved into thin air.

Everyone was quiet. Then Pebbles said, "Well…I'll try it out."

A small button was on the side of the pen. Pebbles pressed it…

…and the fictional group was gone.

"Hey! What happened?" Pebbles twirled the pen around, trying to find an explanation.

She saw a piece of paper lining the cap. It read:

-**Erik**

-**Amanda**

**-Holli**

-**Willy**

-**Cricket**

-**Victor**

-Pebbles

_What does that mean?_ she thought.

A piece of paper appeared in her hand. This read:

_When a character is bold, it's in the pen._

_When it's not, it's outside._

_If you want to release a character, say its name aloud, press the button, and think "Out". Vice-versa for containing one._

_If you want to be replaced, twirl while doing the process for taking a character out._

_To get out the entire group, simply press the button. It will do the rest._

_The pen will guide you. Use it well. It will attack the people you need to attack. It will defend the people you need to defend._

As soon as Pebbles finished the note, it burst into flames and vanished, but seemed cemented in her memory.

After staring at the pen for a few minutes, she pressed the button.

The group returned.

"Is it me, or were we only there a second?" Cricket asked, tossing her hair.

"No, you were there a few minutes." Pebbles glanced at the chart, and no one's name was bold.

"I'm putting you guys back in. We're going to school."

* * *

A/N: NOW I'll introduce you to minor characters: my friends! Review and perhaps I'll update soon… 


	6. The Friends

A/N: So, here are some new characters: my friends. They're pretty minor, but they play at least SOME part in the story!

The Friends

Pebbles looked around and sighed. She was at her school.

WMS was a pretty big school, with about 250 kids in each grade. Gossip went around quickly, there were some hard times, but it all came down to four things: you liked someone, you loved someone, you didn't know someone, or you hated someone.

Standing in front of Pebbles was the main area of the 7th grade wing. Kids reported to their lockers, which were right across from the entrance or lining a small hallway to the left of the locker wall, which led to the other section of the wing. Girls chatted and shared candy, boys wrestled or chased each other, either for a book one had taken or a potato chip.

Walking forward to her locker, number 624, (my real locker number!) kids called "Hi Amanda!" or "Hi, Pebbles!" to her, waving. After putting away her backpack and gathering books, she went to her homeroom, which was empty except for her teacher, who was also her Social Studies teacher. Dropping them off, she saw a purple rolling backpack next to her seat.

Mia.

Mia was a kind girl, born in England, who was interested in the same things Pebbles was obsessed with: Phantom of the Opera, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride. She was shorter than Pebbles, but she thought quicker and could make snappier comebacks. With straight, dirty blond hair and brown eyes, she was one of Pebbles' best friends.

Pebbles ran out into the hallway, looking around. She didn't find Mia (she was probably in the cafeteria buying hot chocolate), but she spotted a girl with long, dark brown hair, green eyes, and freckles was standing near the entrance, talking animatedly to a shorter boy with short, black hair and brown eyes.

That was Kristen and Mike.

They were her first friends when she had come to WMS in the middle of 6th grade, and they still were her best friends. Both were shorter than Pebbles, but they were funny, and, to say the least, had "creative" minds. (o.0)

"Hi, Amanda!" Kristen said, as Mike poked Pebbles.

"Hey. Listen, there's something I have to tell you…"

But before she could say anything, Mia came down the hallway, clutching a cup of hot chocolate, wearing a funny purple and blue winter hat, and grinning.

"Mia! Come here!" Pebbles called.

"What? What's up?" Mia asked, her smile fading as she looked nervously from Pebbles, to Kristen, and to Mike.

"She hasn't told us yet," Mike said, shrugging.

Pebbles glanced around, and saw that no kids were paying the slightest attention. "See this pen?" she asked, making them all huddle in and holing it out in the palm of her hand.

Kristen furrowed her brows. "Yeah…"

"I'll explain what it'll do this afternoon. Can you come over?"

"We can call our parents," was their reply.

"Good. Meet me in the lobby after school."

As Pebbles unlocked the door, she said, "Don't tell anyone. Nothing will jump out at you and it isn't gross or dangerous, but…"

She started coughing; she was recovering from a strange cold she had had before the characters appeared in her room.

"Mayhew! Stop that blasted coughing!" Mia squawked in an odd similarity to Mrs. Van Dort as she thumped Pebbles on the back.

Pebbles laughed as she coughed one last time and stopped. "Thanks. Anyway, it's not, like, shocking or anything, it's just…well, you won't see it anywhere but in stories. It's that odd."

The door unlocked, and the three got into the empty house.

After taking Dello out, the group walked upstairs to Pebbles' room, which was clean because she had cleaned it on Sunday.

"You guys ready?" she asked. At their nods, Pebbles held the pen out and pressed the button.

The group of fictional characters appeared in front of them.

"Is it afternoon?" Holli asked, straightening her hair and peering around the room.

"Yes, Holli. Mia, Kristen, and Mike, I'd like you to meet Erik, 14 year old Amanda, Holli, Willy Wonka, Cricket and Victor Van Dort. Guys that don't really exist, meet Mia, Kristen, and Mike."

"Oh my- it's ERIK!" Mia squealed, running forward and tackling Erik with such force that they both fell over.

"Dude…what the heck?" Mike wondered as he looked at each of the characters in turn.

"This is awesome!" Kristen said, poking Victor.

"But Victor doesn't like to be poked," Pebbles cooed as she walked up to Victor and hugged him. "He likes to be huggled!"

"I don't like either," Willy said, frowning as Kristen poked him and stole his hat, placing it on top of her own head.

"Well, um…I always did like hugging," Victor stuttered, smiling a little as Pebbles gave him one last squeeze and moved to pry Mia off of Erik.

"But who are these girls?" Mike asked as he pointed to Cricket, Amanda, and Holli. "And how did the entire group get here?"

Pebbles explained the story to them. Kristen looked awed, Mike looked like he couldn't believe it, and Mia was grinning.

"…and don't tell a soul. Got it?"

"Got it!" her friends chorused.

"Good. Now let's get you guys home."

* * *

A/N: Prepare yourselves…there's an important chapter next, not to mention that I won't be able to update as often, seeing as this is the last day of Thanksgiving break…oh well! Just remember…December 22nd is when I get out for WINTER BREAK! –cheers- 

Anyway, I'm thinking of sending this to Tim Burton to be made as a movie! I'll need a lot of support from you guys!

Don't worry…this is too good a storyline to be passed up…


	7. The First Disease

A/N: Sorry I haven't been able to update as recently…I've been swamped with homework. –throws rabid muffins at teachers- So, GUESS WHAT! I've finally been able to update! Yayz!

The First Disease

Pebbles awoke at 5:30 am on Saturday to insane coughing and hacking. Rolling to her side, her eyelids drooping, she began to reprimand the person the sound was coming from.

"Erik…its 5 am. Have a coughing fit later!"

The coughing continued, but Pebbles heard a strangled voice mutter, "Help…I can't…"

Her brows furrowing, she reached for the lamp next to her bed and flicked the switch.

Her eyes flew completely open and she had to restrain a scream.

Erik was tangled in the blankets of his bed, in an uncomfortable position. His arms hung at an odd angle, and the visible side of his face was completely, perfectly white. Bloodshot eyes gazed helplessly at Pebbles. His face was oddly hollow, as if the Phantom had not eaten in months. Erik's breath came in short gasps, and he winced terribly with each breath in and out.

The most startling part of it all was that his outfit, part of his mask, and the makeshift bed was stained with blood.

"Oh my God! We need to get help!"

Without hesitating, she rolled quickly over to the other side of the bed, jumped off, and screamed into Amanda's ear, "WAKE UP!"

Amanda's eyes flew open and she whipped her body upright. "Geez, do you need to scream?" she asked peevishly, rubbing her eyes.

"Get up, girl! Erik is dying or something!"

Amanda hurried over to the side of the bed, and gasped. "Holy shiz! Wake everyone up!"

But Pebbles was already doing that. She pounced on each person, screaming that Erik needed help and if they didn't get their butts out of bed she would skin them alive.

In a few seconds everyone was crowded around Erik, some examining him, others turned away.

"That looks serious!" Holli exclaimed, feeling his forehead. "He's burning up, by the way."

"Get a thermometer!" Willy ordered. Pebbles rushed downstairs.

In a minute she was back up. "Here," she said, making a gesture for the group to back up.

She stuck the thermometer in Erik's mouth. At the beep, she whipped it out.

"102.3!" she exclaimed, showing it to them.

"We struck lucky," Amanda said. "If he were 103 degrees we'd need to get him to a hospital."

"And that wouldn't be good."

Victor made a face as he peered at Erik's bloody arms and face. "We need to get that mask off," he said finally.

Amanda and Pebbles exclaimed, "NO!"

"Why not?"

"Put it this way," said Amanda with a smile, putting her arm around Victor. "You two can both reside happily in the heart attack ward."

"That makes no sense."

Amanda's frown faded. "In other words: you take that mask off, you'll have a heart attack and faint because of what's behind, and Erik will have one too because of the extreme anger he'll feel."

Victor gazed nervously at the mask. "Never mind."

Cricket, who had been silently contemplating the entire time, jumped in the air. "I've got it! Why don't we take the mask off while no one's looking, then put a wet washcloth over it! That way, it'll take away some of the pain and no one will see."

Amanda and Pebbles exchanged glances. "I'll get one," Pebbles sighed.

When she returned, the group allowed her to pass without comment. She bent over Erik, and put her hand gently on the mask.

"Look, dude," she whispered to Erik, "The mask is causing you unnecessary pain. We need to take it off, but we'll cover that section of your face with a washcloth so you still have your privacy. The washcloth is wet with warm water, so it'll sooth the pain away. Got it?"

Erik didn't move for a moment, then, with a pained expression, nodded.

Pebbles smiled out of the corner of her mouth.

"Into the closet with everyone except Amanda!"

Everyone obeyed, cramming into the closet and shutting the door completely.

Taking one last look at Erik, she handed Amanda the washcloth. "You do it," she said, walking to the closet and going with the rest of the group.

Everyone was murmuring nervously. Victor bent down from his space behind Pebbles and asked her, "Will Erik be all right?"

"Let's hope so, Victor. Let's hope so."

For a week Erik was terribly sick, and he wasn't getting any better, although most of the blood had been cleaned up. The fictional characters spent the night in shifts, with one person watching over Erik for an hour or two, then that person going to bed and another person waking up to watch him.

By Wednesday Erik was saying terrible things in a voice that wasn't his, wild prophecies that made Pebbles wake up many mornings to find Victor or Willy curled up next to her, shivering uncontrollably.

Sunday was the darkest day of all.

Pebbles came to her room to find the group in a huddled clump around Erik's bed.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Don't ask me!"

"His temperature's rising!"

Running over, she cleared a pathway through the group to find Erik muttering, his eyes fully open and perfectly white.

He was muttering strange things, such as, "The door has opened," "Wide darkness spreads," and "No hope for humanity." He was also twitching in a violent way that mental patients in special care couldn't master, and his teeth were grinding loudly in between sayings.

Holli was holding a thermometer to his forehead, her expression worried to death. "His temperature's rising a degree a minute," she told Pebbles nervously.

"And he's freaking me out!" Willy whined, hiding behind the tall, thin Cricket.

"Look!" Amanda squeaked, pointing to the thermometer.

The screen turned red, and Pebbles noticed that his temperature was at 110 degrees-and climbing fast-1 degree a second, to be exact.

"OH MY GOD!"

"HE'S GONNA DIE!"

"CALL SOMEONE!"

Victor, Cricket, and Holli were crying now. Willy was hyperventilating. Amanda and Pebbles held each other, shaking terribly. Erik's mutterings were getting faster and louder.

"…no hope…get the key…THE KEY! GET THE-"

Suddenly, at 130 degrees, the thermometer stopped. Erik was silent. His eyes returned to normal, his breathing became normal, everything became normal.

Holli, tears still falling, pulled off the thermometer, reset it, and took his temperature again.

Everyone held their breath.

At the beep, she slowly raised the thermometer to her eyes.

"98.6. He's normal."

Everyone let their breath out again.

"How do you feel?" Amanda asked worriedly, putting her hand on his.

A smile crept across his face, and he sat up, holding the washcloth to his face.

"I feel great! I feel the best I've ever felt!"

Victor and Cricket hugged each other, relief etched across their faces. Willy and Holli started talking hysterically about how he had nearly died and how scary it had been. Amanda hugged Erik, tears of relief falling down her cheeks.

And Pebbles- she just watched the scene with relieved happiness.

* * *

A/N: Did I getcha? xD 

Anyway, I know 110 degrees in itself is impossible to reach without dying first, but this is an unrealistic fic, so bear with me!

So…review, I guess!


	8. The Fop's Army

A/N: NerdyForWonkaNerds asked me if Erik was possessed. It really depends on your way of thinking, but the sequels will have more insight, I promise!

So, here we have it…the first real action scene! Keep in mind that Raoul is from Phantom of the Opera.

The Fop's Army

Everyone was relieved that Erik had turned out okay. Amanda gave Erik back his mask, and everyone turned away to give him privacy.

Having his mask back on and his health normal, he said, "How long has it been?"

"It's been a week, Erik," Cricket breathed.

"Oh…well, that's…"

But he was cut off by a loud thump, the same one that Pebbles had heard last Friday. It rung in her ears and filled her body with dread. Had another character arrived into her world?

The characters ducked, but Pebbles stood quickly up.

"What? What is it?" Willy asked nervously, holding his head up after the thump had faded into silence.

"That sound! I heard it before you guys came into my room!" Pebbles exclaimed, whirling around to stare wide-eyed at the group.

"But…that can't mean-"

"Someone else is here," Erik said suddenly, standing up and reaching for the Punjab Lasso hanging off his belt.

"Well…not necessarily here, Erik. That thump wasn't as bad as the one I heard last Friday."

Victor gulped. "So whoever's come here is elsewhere?"

"Exactly, sexy potato."

"Sexy-?"

But he was cut off by Erik laughing. "Victor was called a sexy potato!" he gasped, holding his sides.

Pebbles smirked. "Don't be laughing, you're a sexy banana."

Erik immediately stopped laughing, for it was Victor's turn to laugh. He rolled over, in hysterics, and this time Holli joined in, too.

"Salted!" Amanda said, rubbing her fingers together as she held them over Erik's head.

"Oh, shut up."

Pebbles rubbed her hands together. "I've got a great idea," she said. "How about I get my friends, store you guys in the pen, and we go over to the bagel shop?"

"Sweet," Willy said, jumping up.

"He, he. No pun intended."

* * *

"Is Erik okay?" 

"Yeah, he's all right now."

Kristen and Pebbles were walking to the bagel shop in the middle of town, decked in their winter coats and jeans. Amanda was walking alongside them because she looked utterly and completely normal. For some reason, the mirror of Erik's disfiguration had disappeared when she had come here, so she otherwise looked like any old teenager. The only difference was her skirt and the long black cloak and scarf she was wearing.

"Sure is chilly out," Amanda said, blowing out a puff of air and rubbing her hands together, which were ungloved.

"Come on, Amanda, its only a block away," Kristen said, pointing to the light yellow and white building ahead.

As they neared, Pebbles saw that there was a crowd of people among the door.

"What's going on?" she asked as the girls pushed through the crowd and opened the door.

Her question was soon answered.

Standing by the counter was none other than Raoul de Chagny, with his army of soldiers, questioning the staff.

"…we're looking for the Phantom of the Opera, mademoiselle," he told the girl working at the counter in a friendly tone, smiling despite the girl's disbelieving look.

"This is my job," Amanda whispered, motioning for Pebbles and Kristen to back up.

After making a shh-ing gesture at the girl, she slunk around the shadows toward the refrigerator that held the bottles of soda.

She swept up a Coke, walked backwards until she was behind Raoul, took aim, and fired.

The soda whacked Raoul on the back of the head and crashed to the floor, where it exploded, splashing several nearby soldiers and Raoul.

Raoul turned around, an angry frown on his face.

The frown quickly melted into a superior smirk, his hand diving for the sword that hung around his belt.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Archer. I take it you know where the Phantom is?"

Amanda sneered, "You'll never know, you disgusting pretty boy."

"Would you rather fight?" Raoul drew his sword and held it out.

"I'll crush you flat, fop," Amanda retorted, already drawing up an arrow on her crossbow and taking aim.

Pebbles fumbled with the pen. "Erik!" she whispered, pressing the button.

_Out!_

Erik was immediately standing in front of her, his back to his apprentice and the Vicomte.

"Hey! What's going-"

Pebbled put her hand to his mouth. "I don't have much time. Listen, the thump that we heard meant that Raoul and his soldiers of doom arrived and are now standing behind you. Go get them!"

She ripped her hand off his mouth, but Erik didn't say a word. Instead, he drew his Punjab and melted into the shadows, slinking away until he was behind a soldier.

Raoul and Amanda glared at each other, arrow drawn, sword pointing.

A soldier gagged and fell flat to the floor, his eyes wide.

Then another went down, and another.

Erik was trying to Punjab every soldier single-handedly.

"Erik! Are you insane?" Kristen whispered, starting to move forward.

Pebbles forced her back. "Actually, he is, but he knows what he's doing. Leave him be."

By now ¾ of the army was dead, and Erik hadn't even blinked.

"Open fire!" Raoul yelled, pointing his sword and the Phantom.

The soldiers fired, but Erik was too quick. He dodged bullet after bullet, and resorted to killing two soldiers at a time, rather than one.

Amanda aimed again, and fired. She struck Raoul's right hand, the hand holding the sword.

He screamed, dropping the sword and holding the injured hand in agony. Crimson liquid ran down his hand and dripped onto the floor, creating a puddle.

Amanda ran forward, lifted a leg high, and kicked Raoul with such force that he fell into the pool of blood.

By now, every soldier was dead, and Erik came over, twirling the lasso.

"How did you get here, fop?" Amanda asked, putting a foot on Raoul so he couldn't get up.

"I have no idea!"

"Yes, you do!" She dug the heel of her sneaker into Raoul's side, making him grit his teeth and squirm.

"No, I don't!"

Wordlessly, Erik brandished the lasso in front of Raoul's eyes, a deadly smile on his face.

"Cough up, idiot," he said, preparing the lasso to put around Raoul's throat.

Raoul squirmed even more. "Alright, alright! There was a black door in front of me that said that the Phantom was behind it, and I went through the door with soldiers and ended up here! Happy?"

Amanda stuck out her chin and, with one final dig into Raoul's ribs, released her foot and let him stand up.

Raoul glared at each Opera Ghost, cradling his injured hand. "You won't get away with this," he hissed, limping toward the door and exiting the bagel shop.

Pebbles hopped up, Kristen mimicking her. "You guys did great!" she exclaimed, helping the employee, who was hiding a counter, up.

Kristen looked around the shop. "But are we getting food, or what?"

Pebbles looked over to Kristen and grinned. "I think we'll be better off getting hot chocolate at Starbucks."

* * *

A/N: Hope it wasn't too gory for you! Everything gets better from now on! 

I'm going to let you guys piece the story together and come up with theories before I explain. In the meantime, review!


	9. The Second Disease

A/N: Meep! I bet you guys can guess what'll happen here!

Oh, and sorry about the extreme typos in the last chapter. I'll double check from now on, m'kay?

The Second Disease

A week later, on Friday, Pebbles had the day off from school, her brother still had school, and her parents had work, so the house was deserted, besides the fictional characters and her.

She awoke at 10:00 to nervous murmurings by her desk. Sitting up, she saw that Victor and Holli were talking to each other by Willy's bed, while Erik and Amanda flipped through a book on medical conditions and Cricket rummaged through a first aid kit.

"Huh? What's going on?" Pebbles yawned, rubbing her eyes.

Erik looked up and gestured to Willy. "He's unconscious."

"What?" Pebbles yelled, leaping out of bed and hurrying over to the corner. Willy would have been mistaken to be sleeping if it weren't for a few things.

His face was scarred and bloody, as if he'd just come out of a battle. His breathing was slower than it normally was when someone was sleeping, and his hair was messy. The gloved hands kept moving, and he jolted every once in a while. He was humming a strange tune that seemed familiar, but Pebbles couldn't quite place it.

"I wouldn't say sick, though…" Holli said thoughtfully as she gazed at Willy's face.

"…more like mentally unstable," Cricket finished, not looking up.

"Yeah. That."

Pebbles stomped her foot. "This is crazy! Everyone's getting sick!"

Victor shrugged. "I haven't. And the girls are alright. You're also alright."

"You always look on the bright side, don't you, Victor?" Erik said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Victor grinned.

"Anyway…we're back in night shifts again," Pebbles sighed. "Look, we have the house to ourselves today and we have the weekend, so why don't we just chill today and let Willy sleep?"

Amanda leapt up. "I'm down with that!"

Victor made a weirded-out face. (It looks like this: o.0) "Well, you're really not down, you're up…"

"It's an expression, silly," Holli giggled, thumping Victor on the back.

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Erik simply read, Victor and Holli played chess together, and Cricket, Amanda, and Pebbles played various card games. The only sounds you heard were the rustling of pages, the crackling of cards, a hard wooden sound as a chess piece was set upon the board, and the following words: 

"Your move."

"BS."

"Peanut butter."

"Check."

"Damn."

"How's Willy?"

"Fine. Keep reading your freaky-ass vampire book."

It was the same on the weekend, too. No one said or did much, and Willy seemed okay.

But the cuts didn't heal, they got worse.

The twitching didn't stop, it got worse.

And the song didn't stop, it kept repeating.

Never changing. Never stopping. Never ending.

This went on for two weeks: the night spent in shifts, Willy's deranged humming keeping everyone awake. Pebbles had a Russia project that was to be due in a few weeks, and occasionally she would surf the Internet for extra information or Victor would come and help her.

By the second week, the humming got louder, and Pebbles only got about 5 hours of sleep every night, even on weekends. Willy's temperature didn't rise, as Erik's had done…

It fell.

On Monday, near the end of November, Pebbles had stayed awake all night. Dark shadows were creeping into her dreams, with Willy's humming to serenade them. The strange part was that Willy Wonka wasn't really Willy Wonka anymore, voice wise: it had morphed to become a girl's voice, filled with darkness and bitterness.

School had been canceled due to a snow day, so it didn't matter how long she stayed up.

At 4:30, Pebbles felt a sharp hand being clasped around her wrist. She was yanked down, and she found herself facing Willy, his eyes black as night, his face paler and bloodier than ever.

He gasped, and said, in a raspy voice, "She's coming…"

Pebbles felt a chill of genuine fear snake up and down her back. "W-who?"

"The queen…she's coming…the boy…he's coming…the girl…she's back…"

His coat had been removed to show that his shirt was torn, and through the rips, Pebbles saw his skin turning bluer, his veins turning purple from his freezing body temperature…

"Willy! Snap out of it! Who? Who's coming?"

"HER!"

And Willy fainted, his hand becoming limp and falling from her wrist, his body collapsing onto the floor, where he lied.

His breathing returned, very slowly, to normal. The cuts and blood vanished, his shirt mending. His face regained its normal tone.

Pebbles heard shuffling by the foot of her bed. Looking up, she saw a figure, with messy hair, raise its hand…

…and it was gone.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was really freaky, not only for you guys, but for me! I did a lot of things in this chapter sub-consciously, without really meaning to! See if you can find a few connections here. 

And I've felt a chill of fear…its weird…

So, anyway, come out from under your blankies and review!


	10. The Bots

A/N: Second action scene…o.0

The Bots

Victor awoke suddenly at 6:00. Sitting up and looking around, he saw that everyone was still sleeping.

_I-I heard a yell,_ he thought, getting out of bed and stretching.

On the floor, he found a note:

_Victor,_

_This makes no sense to you now, but something will happen to you. You are of greatest importance to this group. Remember: _

_Tourniquet._

_Blue Skies._

_Theatre._

It wasn't signed.

* * *

Pebbles awoke, sweating, the next morning. After last night's events, she had slept soundly, but there were Shadows lurking on the corner of her imagination, baring their teeth and flexing their claws.

Erik jumped up from his place next to her bed.

"Oh good! You're up," he said, putting his hand to her forehead. "Temperature's fine…"

Pebbles sat up and rubbed her eyes groggily. "Whatimezit?"

Erik frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

Pebbles cleared her throat. "I said…What time is it?"

"It's only 6:00 am, Pebbles."

"Alright…"

She threw back the covers and got out of bed. She saw that Willy was okay.

He was sitting in the corner, chatting happily with Holli, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

"We found it!" Cricket said, waving a mug of the stuff herself.

"Dun spill!" Amanda giggled, taking a sip from her own mug.

But Victor wasn't with the group. He was sitting in the corner by Amanda's bed, staring at the wall. He looked unhappy about something, and Pebbles couldn't place what. Victor made a fist, crumpling up a bit of old paper that was sitting in his hand.

Before anyone could ask what was wrong, the phone rang. After checking the caller ID, Pebbles pushed the "Talk" button.

"Kristen, you dingbat! Its 6 am!"

Kristen giggled. "So? I couldn't sleep!"

Pebbles rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just wanted to say that there's a herd of manic robots attacking my house…"

Pebbles yelped. "Are you serious!"

"Yes! Get over here!"

Without bothering to say goodbye, both girls hung up. Pebbles dumped Willy and Holli in the pen and pulled on her coat, boots, and gloves.

"Now there are robots, guys! See ya!" she yelled as she ran out of the door.

* * *

When she got to Kristen's house, she saw that she was right. There were small, round robots with long antennas zapping the house and plants. Kristen was cowering behind a tree in the yard across from her house. 

Wonkabots!

"Willy and Holli!" Pebbles yelled.

_Out!_

Willy and Holli were out of the pen in a flash. Seeing what was going on, they looked around wildly for a weapon.

There were 2 silver blaster-type guns leaning against a bush.

"Perfect!" Willy said, reaching for one of the guns and clicking a lever. "These are Taffy Blasters! They'll jam the Wonkabot circuits!"

Holli shrugged nervously as she clicked the lever on her gun. "If you say so!"

Immediately Willy aimed the gun at a Wonkabot, and fired. The pink taffy whacked the robot, making it whirl around, but otherwise it was still "alive".

Holli, after a pause, fired, this time green taffy, at the Wonkabot. Its front drooped, and it exploded.

"Awesome," she whispered, smirking as she fired yellow taffy at a Wonkabot.

But now all of them were coming at her and Willy, and there was nothing she could do…

…but fight.

Flipping over a group, she stuck her arm out and single-handedly shot down 2 Wonkabots. They went haywire, zapping blindly but always missing Willy and Holli.

Willy scrambled up the tree and fired repeatedly, dodging the bolts of electricity and leaping from branch to branch.

Eventually Pebbles ran out, snatched up one of the robots, and hurled it across the street, making it explode about 10 feet away. Kristen ran out, too, and together, they both started plucking out Wonkabots and tossing them out of the way.

It was a strange scene: two girls throwing round, buglike robots out into the street, a man in a tree shooting them down with candy, and a girl running around and jumping into the air, letting out death cries as she fired the multicolored taffy.

After an hour, the group stood together in smoldering ruins. One Wonkabot rolled heartlessly over to attack them, but Willy, without looking around, shot it down.

As soon as the taffy met metal, all of the dead Wonkabots vanished, including the one that had recently been shot.

A paper airplane zoomed out of nowhere, landing at Pebbles' feet. It said:

_J.S._

_H.P._

_H.C._

"HUH?" Pebbles exclaimed, handing the paper over to Willy.

"What the heck?" Kristen said, peering over Willy's shoulder.

"It makes no sense…"

Pebbles flailed her hands in the air. "Wait! If Erik got sick and got better right before Raoul came, and Willy got sick before the Wonkabots, then…"

Some way away, Victor let out an earsplitting wail.

* * *

A/N: The puzzle continues… 

Don't worry about the letters, unless you're willing to do some extensive research and you want to spoil the story for yourself. :-)


	11. The Third Disease

A/N: AHH OMG! ONE ENTIRE FOOT OF SNOW! My school is INSANE for not closing! The bus broke down a considerable distance from home, so my brother and I went through the freezing blizzard (it had snowed all day!) home!

So, um…-cough-

If you got some serious snow like I did, please do enjoy. :-)

The Third Disease

"God, Willy, hurry up! We're almost home!"

Willy picked up a foot from the snow with disgust and looked up. "But it's ICKY!"

Holli pouted. "Just hurry up!"

Pebbles unlocked the door with relish and rubbed her hands together. "We'll make more hot chocolate when we get inside!"

As they got inside and took off their shoes, Cricket came running down the stairs.

She put her hands behind her back, tilted her head to one side, and grinned cheesily.

"Hi, how are you?" she squeaked in a girly voice.

"Freezing," Willy said, pulling some snow out of his hair.

"Oh, that's great, because Victor just threw up three times while you were gone!"

Pebbles' jaw dropped. "IN MY ROOM?"

Cricket became serious and shook her head. "Nah, in the bathroom, gentleman that he is. But he's really feeling bad."

Before Pebbles could say another word, Cricket hurried upstairs and into Pebbles' bedroom.

After a moment, they could hear Victor shout something in gibberish. His voice was rough, a combination of a girl's voice and a boy's voice.

Holli burst out laughing. "Excuse me for my sense of humor, but, you gotta admit, it was REMOTELY funny…"

Pebbles shrugged, but she didn't smile. "I guess it was."

The group headed into the kitchen.

"I wonder which villain we'll get this time," Pebbles said, getting herself a donut.

Holli smirked. "Maybe HE'LL come!"

Pebbles stared at her blankly. After a moment, she made a face.

"Aw, HELL no!"

"Its probably going to happen!"

"If he does come here, I'm going to put him into the blender, make him into a smoothie, and sell him at 2 bucks a glass."

Willy scratched his head. "I don't get it."

Pebbles sipped her water and headed to the stairs. "You don't have to. It doesn't concern you."

She swept upstairs, her feet barely touching the stairs.

When she got up, she couldn't believe it…

Victor looked…different.

He was now entirely human. He was 6 feet tall, and his limbs had shortened. His eyes were no longer large and cartoony, but they were human size with shadows. The once unique hairstyle had become tousled dark brown hair, his nose was slightly protruding, and his mouth was, well…normal.

The only differences were that his hands were cat claws; something that could only be captured in drawings. His feet looked like something Pebbles would draw, and he had a large, red, bushy tail. Bunny ears came out of his head.

So he was not scarred, or pale, or gory…he was a mutant.

Erik looked up from the thermometer. "We can't see his temperature."

Amanda said nothing, but continued to survey Victor intently.

Pebbles walked over and knelt by Victor's side. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Why were evil things coming to her world? Why were the main characters getting sick, rather than her original characters? Most importantly, what was the strange note doing there? There were so many questions that needed to be answered, and it didn't look like she'd find the answers to them.

Everything was bleak, grey…gifts really were curses.

"Here, we found this note," Pebbles said finally, handing it to Erik.

He scanned it quickly, his brows furrowed. "The letters look like they stand for something, but what?"

Cricket leaned over and looked. "Erik's right. It probably stands for something."

Willy and Holli walked into the room and joined the group in trying to decipher the code, trying their hardest to ignore Victor's random shouts, but it was increasingly hard.

* * *

"…so they must stand for characters, am I right?" 

"You probably are, Miss Pebbles."

Erik smiled at her.

But then claws grasped his throat, and squeezed.

Erik gagged, clawing at the inhuman hands. Victor brought his face next to Erik's.

He gasped. "The dead one is coming for you…"

Holli put her hands over her mouth to muffle her shocked gasp. Her eyes were widened, and tears of fear were forming at the corner.

Victor took a rattling breath. "…the ruler…the chosen one…the imposter…"

The entire group was oblivious to the fact that Victor's body was slowly evaporating into thin air, starting at his feet. They were all focused at Erik's face, which was turning blue.

"You will see…"

Just then, Victor disappeared with a small _pop_. Erik took deep breaths, rubbing his throat as his face regained its natural color.

There was a snap at the door. Everyone whirled around to see who it was.

Victor was normal, stop motion animation style again, a smile on his lips.

Before he could say anything, Holli ran over and hugged him, crying.

Startled, Victor slowly put his arms around her...

* * *

A/N: -eats chocolate cake- 

…what?

Anyway, this is the last of the fated diseases…prepare for chaos! –trumpets sound-

Just so you know, the whole thing about Victor looking human thing was used to describe the fact that he didn't look stop motion animation style anymore, but rather like a normal human being.


	12. The Murderer

A/N: …um…

Yeah, new chapter…

Anyway, do all you can to get more people reading my story. Post on forums, tell friends, etc…

If you do Fan Art, you officially have permission to make a picture of a character(s), but just tell me you're doing it and credit me if you draw Holli, Pebbles, Cricket, or Amanda, ok?

Also, "Outrageous" by Britney Spears is used in here. If you want best results, try playing it as soon as they start fighting. I'm going to change some of the lyrics, though, because 1) That's what they sounded like, and 2) Because they match the characters and sound better than the originals!

The Murderer

…then the thump came again, with a slight ringing sound this time. It filled everyone's consciousness and made them shake.

When it finally stopped, Amanda whispered, "Who's here this time?"

Pebbles shivered. "If it is who I think it is, then I don't wanna know."

* * *

She looked up at the large school, clutching the pen in her hand. She had gone all through town to find who had come to her world, but she had a pretty good idea who it was.

Sighing, she went into the school…

…only to see a scene of total chaos in front of her.

Kids were screaming and running back and forth, various cuts and gashes on their arms. The teachers were tying to calm them down, but to no avail. Some were even screaming themselves. Tables were overturned, posters ripped.

After walking through the first hallway, Mia caught up to her. Her hair was messy and standing straight up, and her clothes were torn. A large, bleeding cut was on her cheek.

"Amanda…its…its…"

Pebbles straightened. "Who? Who's in the school?"

Mia said nothing, but lead her into the 7th grade wing.

There, more students were running and screaming. Standing in the middle of it all, sword in hand, smirk on his lips…

Barkis.

He laughed. "Come now, let's not be foolish," he said to a couple of cowering girls on the floor. They screamed and scrambled for cover as he raised his sword to stab them.

"Victor and Cricket!" Pebbles shouted, pointing the pen straight out.

_Out!_

Victor and Cricket were in front of them immediately. "Oh dear…" Victor whined, staring around, his eyes finally falling on Barkis. He gasped.

Barkis turned around to face them, and gave another evil laugh. "What, shall I kill you, too?"

Cricket made an angry face. "In your dreams. Victor, stand back."

Victor, not wasting a second, ran into Pebbles' homeroom, where he was greeted by many excited and confused shouts.

Cricket sleekly drew two daggers from her pants belt, and, smirking, pointed them at Barkis.

"Well, since YOUR story is a musical, how about we have some tunes to liven up this fight, hmm? Add a little music to your death-"

Barkis ran at Cricket with a yell, his sword raised high. Cricket fended it off with her daggers, which were crossed in an _x _to guard her.

They began to fight…

_Outrageous! When I move my body,_

_Outrageous! When I'm at a party!_

_Outrageous! In my sexy jeans…_Cricket went down low to prove her point.

_Outrageous! When I'm on the scene!_

Barkis was determinedly trying to fight her off, but Cricket was quite a match for him.

_Outrageous! My sex drive…_

_Outrageous! My shopping spree…_

_Outrageous! We on a world tour._

_Outrageous!_

Cricket made a quick slice across Barkis' sword, leaving a mark.

_Just to be a girl!_

By this point, both Barkis and Cricket got in each other's faces. They both said at the same time (Cricket is left, Barkis is right):

"Outrageous!" "Sexist!"

Cricket and Barkis started circling each other, each holding their weapons at ready. Cricket went on,

_As I wanna be_

_Got these fellas chasin' me_

_Its 'bout time I hit the streets_

Cricket and Barkis began fighting again, Cricket still singing. She drew a dagger lightly across her throat.

_All my girls still feelin' me!_

She added some light dance steps as they fought.

_B Girl ain't lost the beat!_

_Jumped over drama and I landed on my feet!_

_Gotta keep goin', no stopping me!_

_And if you don't like it then…_

They booted up the speed, so that they swordfighted quickly for a moment.

The speed dropped again, so they were fighting normally. But Cricket hopped on a long table and, still fighting Barkis, walked down it like a catwalk.

_Media, over here!_

_Comin' through like a world premier!_

_Trench coat and my underwear,_

_Let's go with this freak show its…_

She did a flip off and landed behind Barkis, taking to getting a quick slice near his neck. He whirled around to block her next blow, and they began really slashing at each other. By now, all of the kids were gathered around, and some had the heart to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

_Outrageous! When I move my body,_

_Outrageous! When I'm at a party!_

_Outrageous! In my sexy jeans…_

_Outrageous! When I'm on the scene!_

_Outrageous! My sex drive…_

_Outrageous! My shopping spree…_

_Outrageous! We on a world tour._

_Outrageous!_

Cricket did a somersault so she was again behind Barkis, and drew one of her daggers up his back, pressing enough so that they barely cut the fabric. He gritted his teeth in pain, although the dagger didn't appear to touch his skin.

_Just to be a girl!_

Pebbles felt something light tap her head. Looking up, she saw a note hovering in the air. She pulled it down, opened it, and read it.

_We all have powers._

_Amanda with aim._

_Holli with a mind._

_Cricket with a mask._

Pebbles reread it quickly, her mind racing.

_Cricket with a mask…MASK, MASK…come on…_

Then it hit her.

By now Barkis and Cricket had backed away from each other.

Cricket put on a satisfied smirk. Victor poked his head out from behind the door.

_I'm about to bring the heat,_

_Lockin' down the industry!_

She pulled herself to the left, and faced that direction. Immediately, the visible side to Barkis turned into an exact replica of HIS right side! Her voice became a mixture between his and his own.

_Aren't I so-_She went to the other side, and that side became Barkis, too. Her voice was now an exact copy of his.-_per-glamorous?_

She spread out her hands in front of her, her head held high.

_Red carpet…_

She did a "melting fangirl" impression. (Her hands to the sides of her face, her eyes looking up dramatically, and her expression hopelessly happy…and pathetic.)

…_and cameras!_

Cricket jumped up and hit the floor. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned from Barkis to the Corpse Bride herself, putting on a serious expression, holding her hands up as if she was holding a camera up.

_Take trips around the globe!_

She waved her hand in front of her and turned into Victoria; she put on a smug expression and walked toward Barkis.

_Tints on my Jeep _(she did a "no" finger move) _so nobody knows!_

Cricket then jumped up and threw herself backward at the same time.

In the process, she turned into a perfect model of Victor, voice and all.

_So hot, gotcha comin' out ya clothes!_

The real Victor gasped, put nevertheless hid his mouth behind his hand to cover his grin.

Cricket marched closer to Barkis, so he was right in front of his face.

It was comical, seeing the size difference…

_I'm about to give ya the…_

She whirled Barkis around so that his back was facing her, and quickly made a dozen or so cuts across his back. Cricket turned his around to that the kids could see, and they laughed hard, so hard that tears streamed down their faces.

Cricket had engraved on Barkis' back: "_SALTED, YO!"_

Barkis turned his head around to read the saying. He got the joke quite rapidly and whipped around to kill Cricket, but Cricket had already dodged to the side; she was still Victor.

She waved.

_Media, over here!_

Barkis turned around and jabbed his sword fiercely, but only met thin air because Cricket had stayed to his side.

She shrugged smoothly, putting her whole body into it.

_Comin' through like a world premier!_

Again, Barkis turned and jabbed, but Cricket stayed to his side.

_Trenchcoat…_

She danced over to her original position.

…_and my underwear…_

Barkis turned and tried to draw the sword through Cricket's chest, but Cricket ducked.

_Let's go with this_- (She tapped Barkis' nose with her dagger, smiling)_-freak show, it's…_

She waved her hand in front of her, and changed back to Cricket.

_Outrageous!_ "Victor, take over!" (A/N: I'm getting sick of quoting "Outrageous" over and over, so just keep playing the song, but there won't be any more singing, just the song in the background.)

She pulled out a fork from her belt and tossed it to him.

He caught it, and gazed at it in horror.

"A fork! How shall I fight with a fork?"

Cricket turned and smiled slyly.

"NEVER underestimate a fork."

Barkis clashed his sword against Victor's fork, and they began fighting.

Victor dived under a nearby table and slashed at Barkis' ankles, causing him to yelp and jump back. Taking the opportunity, Victor crawled out quickly and slashed Barkis' side.

He took another slash at Barkis' hand. Barkis gasped and dropped the sword, clutching his hand in pain.

Victor had gotten a clean shot, and had really dug the fork in; so far you could see a hint of bone.

Barkis dropped to the floor, screaming.

Pebbles jumped up and down. "Yeah, Victor! You got him! YES!"

But Victor, a little spooked by what he did, fell to the floor and passed out.

* * *

A/N: -leaps out from under a huge pile of homework and throws rotten tomatoes at teachers- 

Stress is BAD for kids, you know that? BAD!

-runs from angry mob of teachers led by the tyrannical vice principal and principal-


	13. The Puzzle

A/N: -beep beep-

Consider this an oasis in the midst of insanity; things are really going to start heating up soon!

The Puzzle

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Victor opened his eyes to the group standing above him.

Well, okay, it wasn't the group, just Cricket and Amanda. Everyone else was asleep.

"Whazzit?" Victor mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He noticed that his hair was disheveled and his clothes were messed up.

Cricket frowned. "You made a mile deep gash in Barkis' hand and passed out."

"Oh…well, yes. Yes, of course…"

Pebbled sat down, along with Cricket. "But get this. Barkis said that a black door had appeared in front of HIM, promising wealth and riches. Greedy little-"

Cricket cut her off. "Anyway, Barkis was taken care of, and we're all okay. We want you to help us figure out the puzzle, that's why we woke you up, you dingbat."

Erik suddenly appeared at Pebbles' side. "I'm going to help."

Victor gaped. "Don't you even sleep, Erik?"

"No, not really." He grinned.

Pebbles rolled her eyes and sighed. "Someone just fetch some paper and a pen and a flashlight, and we'll just…" She trailed off, seeing the look on the characters' faces. "Oh, all right, FINE. I'LL get them."

After getting the needed materials, Erik headed the paper "_Notes_" in his awesome handwriting and asked, "So…what is one of the clues?"

Victor pointed at the paper. "The doors, the doors."

Erik wrote:

_Barkis- door promising riches_

_Fop-door promising the ever so elusive Opera Ghost_

"Don't flatter, yourself, Erik," Pebbles giggled. "What else?"

Cricket thought, then coughed. "The weirdo diseases and the fact that they lasted for a certain time, discovered or ended at a certain time, and appeared right before a character did."

Erik wrote it down quickly. "Keep going, there's more."

Pebbles added, "You said something about a key when you were sick."

Erik wrote:

_Key_

"And the song that Willy hummed…"

It was written down.

"Willy said something about a queen coming, a boy coming, and a girl being back…"

Erik scribbled it down.

"And there was a person with messy hair at the foot of my bed when Willy became normal and fell asleep…but they weren't there for long."

Down it went.

"Oh! Character note!"

Erik laughed, writing it down. "Far too many notes for my taste…"

"And most of them are about Christine!" Pebbles sang happily.

Victor looked confused. "None of them are about anybody named Christine…"

Pebbles and Erik exchanged knowing glances. "It's an inside joke."

Cricket giggled. "I get it! Anyway, VICTOR," she put emphasis on the name, glaring in a playful way at Victor, "said something about a dead person coming for one of us in this group, and he said something about a ruler, a chosen one, and an imposter."

Erik wrote it down. "Anything else?"

Pebbles shrugged. "Nope. That's about it, unless you count the thing about everyone having powers."

As Erik wrote down the "last" clue, Victor, who seemed fit to burst, held his hand up. "Wait. I-I-oh dear…"

He sighed and looked down, then looked back up, gazing at each person in turn. "I…received a note as well…"

He dug through his pockets, and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper. He smoothed it out as best as he could, and handed it to Pebbles.

The group read through the letter quickly while Victor stared at his shoes. "I-I-I'm sorry I didn't give it to you earlier…"

There was a pause.

Pebbles started laughing.

"Not much of a clue, is it?" She whacked the paper with her hand. "These are actually the names of songs!"

"Songs?" Victor snatched back the paper and read it through again. "Those are very odd names for songs, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but the songs are pretty creepy…Blue Skies and Tourniquet are really gothic, but Theatre is really good to listen to before a performance or when you don't feel too hot," Cricket added, grabbing the paper and pen from Erik and scribbling it down. "They might hold hidden clues or something."

Erik took the paper back and skimmed over the notes. "It seems that's…it." He glared at the group. "Unless someone ELSE has a note?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Well, then, off to bed with you all."

When everyone else was asleep again, Pebbles lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

A note appeared on her stomach. She picked it up and read it.

_One away from the tree._

* * *

A/N: Omg…tomorrow is the last day before break! –cheers- 


	14. The Shadow

A/N: All together now…

YES! SCHOOL IS OVER! YEAH! UPDATES EVERY DAY! ENTERTAINMENT FOR ALL! FREE DONUTS ON TUESDAYS! W00T!

The Shadow

Pebbles opened her eyes sleepily. The room was quiet and everyone slept soundly. Grey rain pattered softly against the window.

She yawned. _I love Christmas break,_ she thought sleepily, stretching and getting out of bed.

As it turned out, her brother was going to a party that night and her parents were going to another Christmas party, so the house would be quiet in the evening and most of the night, long after the fictional characters had fallen asleep.

After eating breakfast, she walked upstairs to find Erik reading and Amanda playing chess with Cricket.

"I thought everyone would be awake," Pebbles sighed, gazing at Holli, Willy, and Victor, who were sleeping soundly.

"It's strange," Erik muttered, turning a page in his book and continuing to read.

After another hour, all 3 sleeping characters had woken up.

"Wha happened?" Holli mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Willy's face lit up. "MUMBL-" His face fell quickly. "Ah, gosh darn it, I'm too sleepy."

Victor yawned widely. "As am I."

Pebbles threw a dog toy across the room. "Let's just get ready for the day, then I'll put you in the pen and see what's going on outside. It never rains in winter here; it's supposed to be snow!"

Amanda stood up. "I'm first."

* * *

Pebbles gazed at the clouds, sticking her hand out from under her umbrella in time to watch a heavy raindrop plop onto her hand. The pen was stored safely in the inside pocket of her coat so that it wouldn't get wet; heaven knew what would happen if it did. 

She kicked at a puddle and kept walking. Practically every human being on earth would be inside in this weather, so she sang softly to herself.

_Just a day, just an ordinary day_

_Just tryin' to get by._

_Just a boy, just an ordinary boy, but…_

_He was lookin' to the sky_

_And…_

She twirled, a smile appearing on her face.

_As he asked if I would come along  
I started to realize-  
That everyday you find  
Just what he's looking for  
Like a shooting star he shines…_

_He said:_

She walked briskly down the sidewalk. She was now out of her section of the neighborhood.

_Take my hand_

_Live while you can_

_Don't you see that dreams lie right in the palm of your hand?_

She stopped looked over the rail of the bridge to watch the brook that ran through the neighborhood babble along, the tinkling of the water mingling with Pebbles' voice.

_And as he spoke, he spoke ordinary words  
Although they did not feel  
For I felt what I had not felt before  
You'd swear those words could heal.  
_She glanced upwards a bit.

_And as I looked up into those eyes  
His vision borrows mine.  
And to know he's no stranger,  
For I feel I've held him for all of time._

She pattered away on her tiptoes, feeling like a happy five year old, despite the terrible weather. It was quite beautiful, really, once you really thought about it. Grey was always useful for artwork.

_And he said:_

_Take my hand  
Live while you can  
Don't you see your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand?_

_In the palm of your hand?_

She sighed dreamily and stopped on the sidewalk to lean against a tree, holding the umbrella at a slight tilt in front of her so that she wouldn't get her socks wet.

Suddenly she heard a very soft voice; it wasn't anyone in HER group of characters; it wasn't Willy, Victor, or even Erik. No, it was an entirely different voice, a male's, but still very pretty and dipping and rising at the right parts, while staying in tune to the song that Pebbles was recently singing.

She stayed silent, listening.

_Please come with me  
See what I see  
Touch the stars for time will not flee_

The voice rose in volume as wing swirled about Pebbles' face.

_Time will not flee…  
Can you see?_

It stopped as the wind died down, and Pebbles continued the song. Subconsciously she knew the voice and who it belonged to, but somehow she also knew that it wouldn't start up again…not here, anyway.

_Just a dream, just an ordinary dream…  
As I wake in bed  
And the boy, that boy, that ordinary boy!  
Or was it all in my head?_

She shouted/sang, running as the neighborhood swelled up a hill.

_Did he ask if I would come along?  
It all seemed so real!  
But as I looked to the door,  
I saw that boy_

_Standing there with a deal_

_And he said:_

She slowed down a little bit, not even feeling tired as she kept running. She was halfway up the hill now.

_Take my hand  
Live while you can  
Don't you see your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand?  
In the palm of your hand!  
In the palm of your hand…_

She sighed again and slowed and quieted down as she reached the top of the hill and the final section of her neighborhood, but kept walking.

_Just a day, just an ordinary day  
Just tryin to get by.  
Just a boy,  
Just an ordinary boy.  
But he was looking to…_

She sat on a nearby bench and gazed up at the grey, cloudy sky.

_The sky…_

Everything was silent as Pebbles sat on the bench, catching her breath. The rain slowed down gradually, and eventually…

Ground.

To.

A.

Halt…

Pebbles looked around, wondering why the rain had stopped. The wind picked up again, whistling in Pebbles' ears.

Suddenly her umbrella was swept away, along with her coat and her sweatshirt.

She was now left down to her jeans, her black sneakers, and her green hamster T-shirt.

She did the only thing she could think of.

"Hello? Anybody out there? Hello!"

The wind picked up, howling dangerously and sweeping through her long hair, causing it to flare up behind her in true Hollywood style.

Her pen, which had not been swept away with her coat, rolled to her foot and clacked against it, stopping.

She looked down. Without thinking, she swept it up and pressed the button.

Each and every character was out in front of her. Victor stumbled a little bit.

"What's going on!" he yelled over the wind at everyone.

Pebbles ran up to him and clutched his coat. "Hell if I know, but I don't like it, whatever it is!"

Holli pointed fearfully up at the sky behind the group. "What IS that? Holy crap!"

Everyone turned slowly towards where Holli's finger was pointing, and gasped collectively at the sight.

A huge, swirling shadow was hanging in the sky among them, with flashes of dark orange, red, and blue appearing in the center. The wind wasn't coming from it; instead, it was being **_SUCKED_** into it. Notes fluttered down from the shadow and towards the group.

Willy tried to catch one of the notes, but yelled in pain as it touched his hand, quickly letting it fall to the ground, where it disappeared. Erik tried, but it burned to a crisp as soon as he caught it. Cricket, Amanda, Holli, and Victor all tried to snatch a note, but Cricket's turned to a leaf and flew away, Amanda's vanished, Holli's gained 100 pounds and caused her to drop it, and Victor's melted into water.

Pebbles snatched at the air and caught one.

Nothing happened, and she opened it up and read it.

_This is it…_

Erik and Amanda gasped and fainted, disappearing as they hit the ground.

Pebbles' eyes widened in horror as she tossed the note to the side and grabbed another one; it read:

…_the ruler is waiting…_

Holli and Willy screamed in pain and fell, also vanishing.

Pebbles gritted her teeth and grabbed another note.

…_be prepared…_

Cricket and Victor froze as one, and turned into a fine mist, which immediately disappeared.

Suddenly Pebbles heard a voice in her ear. It was a girl's voice, hissing with hatred and menace.

"_Your turn._"

Poor Pebbles felt an iron hand clasp her heart, filling her mind with hopelessness and despair. Her legs wobbled as she felt herself being swept away into blackness…

* * *

A/N: …o.0 

'Kay…

Get yourself some hot cocoa, 'cause you'll be getting a great gift tomorrow!

Also, my awesomely-awesome friend, Kristen (yes, she actually DOES exist!) gave me The Nightmare Before Christmas Special Edition DVD, so now I can watch Tim Burton's short film, "Vincent", whenever I please!

Since all of mah main reviewers (Love ya!)seem to be away on holiday, will all of the lurker readers review for them? Many thanks and cookies!


	15. The Town

A/N: OMG! Anyone celebrating Christmas like me, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Anyone celebrating Hanukkah, HAPPY HANNUKKAH!

Anyone celebrating Kwanzaa (anyone at all?), HAPPY KWANZAA!

Anyone sitting on their butts waiting for me to get on with the story, HAPPY STITCH-IS-A-PAIN-IN-THE-ASS DAY!

And so, without any further pain-in-the-ass-ness, here is your present! –w00t-

The Town

Pebbles groaned shook her head to clear it. The first thing she registered was that everything was very bright and orangey. The second thing she registered were the group of characters sprawled in different places, also groaning and mumbling and shaking their heads.

The third thing was their bodies.

Everyone's bodies had been elongated dramatically, along with their limbs. Their hands were larger and thinner, and the fingers were very spindly. Holli and Amanda's heads were perfectly round, while Erik's, Willy's, Cricket's and Victor's heads were more triangular. Their hair was very strange and cartoony; for example, Amanda' ponytail had increased in size, while Holli's loose hair was longer and perfectly smooth. Finally, everyone's eyes were much bigger, with shadows about them, ranging from very light (Holli) to very black (Erik).

Everyone was stop motion animation style! But that means….

Pebbles slowly looked down at her own body; it was also in stop motion animation style.

She felt her head to determine the shape. It was triangular.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"  
She shouted the phrase very loudly, and received everyone's attention. They gaped at Pebbles' body, but then noticed each other's and gaped at that. They looked at their own bodies, looks of horror plastered on their faces.

Erik spoke up. "I have no clue, but it's beyond MY comprehension."

"And that's a first!" Holli piped.

Willy giggled.

Everyone swung around to stare at him in confusion.

Willy giggled again and straightened his hat, which had become about half a foot taller. "What's weird is that Cricket and Victor look exactly the same!"

Pebbles and Victor giggled nervously in reply.

Cricket looked at her surroundings. "Woah, dude! Look at the trees!"

Pebbles checked.

They were surrounded by a ring of stop motion animation trees. Each one had a door plastered on it.

One door was shaped like a dyed egg, another like a turkey, another like a heart…

She brightened. "Hey, look! We're in the holiday worlds of old!"

Victor frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Holiday worlds of old. From…"

Holli, Amanda, Cricket, and Pebbles all turned slowly looked at each other with unreadable expressions, and said together softly, "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

There was a pause, and then Amanda leapt up. "YEAH! Let's choose a door! Choose one, choose one, CHOOSE ONE!"

Willy looked around, and then pointed at the egg door. "Easter! It's got the most chocolate!"

Holli pointed at the heart. "No, no, Valentine's Day! It's got more!"

Victor pointed at the door shaped like a Christmas tree. "I always did like Christmas."

Pebbles, Holli, Amanda, and Cricket whirled around and shouted, "NO!"

"Why not?"

Pebbles shrugged. "We'll be going through it LATER. Right now…."

Erik pointed at the jack-o-lantern door. "That one."

Pebbles squealed and hugged Erik excitedly. "Very good, Erik! Here, have a cookie."

She shoved a cookie into his mouth.

Willy gaped. "Where did you get that?"

Pebbles shrugged again, smirking. "It's a cartoon. I can do anything I wish to do."

Before anyone could say anything more, Pebbles turned the nose on the jack-o-lantern door and yanked it open.

Instead of a magical portal, she found a clear pathway leading into darkness.

She turned around and addressed the group. "Alright, listen, I have a few things I want to tell you. Erik, yank out your Punjab and keep it ready, but only use it when we're in REAL DANGER, not when we're intimidated. Amanda, stay with Erik. Willy, you'll be fine, and so will Holli and Cricket. Victor…" She sighed. "Don't chicken out. And the number one rule is…."

She drum rolled on the door.

"_DNBF."_

Victor looked weirded out. "De nymbf? What does that mean?"

Pebbles rolled her eyes playfully. "It's an abbreviation for 'DO NOT BE AFRAID'. We're going into a place where people feed off of your fear, and you never know what might happen. So don't be intimidated; this will be less than scary."

She turned around and stepped through the doorway. Wheeling around to face the group, she said, "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Erik looked around at everyone else, then stepped through the door and squeezed Pebbles, grinning. "After you, mademoiselle."

Holli and Cricket jumped through together.

Amanda leapt inside, smiling like a deranged Barbie doll.

Willy stepped inside, twirling his cane and pretending to look bored, but failing miserably.

Victor, however, hung back, looking incredibly nervous.

Holli frowned. "Come on, Victor, you'll be okay. We have weapons and this will be more funny than scary. Please?" She extended her hand.

Victor eyed it for a moment, then smiled slowly and took it, helping himself through the doorway.

No sooner had he entered it that it swung shut, encasing the group in near total darkness.

Pebbles looked around and spotted the path again. She motioned for the group to follow.

They all walked forward together, looking around.

After a few minutes, a jack-o-lantern sitting on a scarecrow lit up. It had an evil smile, and its straw waved in the wind.

A sign posted on the top post read:

"Halloween Town," Willy said slowly, amazed.

As they approached, it suddenly swung all the way around with a _creak_, now facing to the right. Victor whimpered as they passed, and Cricket patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Finally, they reached a gate, which Erik pushed open.

They found themselves in a graveyard. Strange shadows danced on the gravestones.

_Boys and girls of every age!_

_Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see,_

_This, our town of Halloween…_

They exited the cemetery, and found themselves in a little suburban area, with many strange looking houses.

Ghosts flew past them, and Pebbles restrained a shout of surprise.

_This is Halloween! This is Halloween!_

With every word, pumpkins with different faces were speared onto spikes.

_Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!_

The ghosts reappeared, sweeping in front of them as they continued through the streets.

_This is Halloween! Everybody make a scene!_

_Trick or treat…_

They walked through the gates into the yard of one house, the ghosts following them.

'_Till the neighbors gonna die of fright…_

The ghosts became more prominent, with frightful faces as they swept in front of the group. Their singing reached painfully high notes, and Erik covered his ears and screwed up his eyes.

_It's out town! Everybody scream!_

"Split up!" Pebbles shouted. Everyone went different directions.

_In our town of Halloween…_

---------------------------

Victor walked through a lonely bedroom and looked under the bed. He was met by a scary looking creature and muffled a shout.

_I am the one hiding under your bed!_

_Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing RED!_

---------------------------

Erik walked to a staircase, and dodged a hand with snakes for fingers reaching for him, while a monster's face peeped out at him.

_I am the one hiding under your stairs,_

_Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!_

---------------------------

Amanda tiptoed through a family room with three coffins in front of her. A storybook lay open, its pages flipping of its own accord.

_This is Halloween! This is Halloween!_

One coffin after the other opened on each word, revealing cartoony vampires.

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

A vampire draped itself down from the ceiling, facing Amanda, folding its arms across its chest like a bat.

_Halloween!_

The vampires filed out the door, Amanda following.

_In this town_

_We call home_

_Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!_

-----------------------------

Cricket popped out from behind the mayor, giggling as she made bunny ears behind his head as he sang.

_In this town,_

_Don't we love it now?_

_Everyone's waiting for the next surprise!_

He spun around, causing Cricket to jump off the platform on which he was standing.

------------------------------

Pebbles followed a black cat down an alleyway, squealing, "Vincent cat! Look, it's the Vincent cat!" and pointing at it as she went.

_Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can…  
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll:_

The black cat hopped on a trash can, but flew off as a monster popped out. A werewolf burst out from the wall behind them.

_Scream! This is Halloween!_

_Red n' black!_

A wax person popped out from the grill on the ground.

_And slimy green!_

The werewolf snarled at Pebbles and asked,

_Aren't you scared?_

"NO!" Pebbles shouted.

-------------------------------

Holli happily rode on the back of a witches' broom, saluting to the people below as she went.

_Well, that's just fine!  
Say it once, say it twice,  
Take the chance and roll the dice!  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night!_

--------------------------------

Amanda, who had escaped the vampires, perched on the branch of a mutant tree on which hanged skeletons hung.

_Everybody scream! Everybody scream!_

The hanged men looked up at Amanda, who rolled her eyes and pretended not to be amused.

_In our town of Halloween…_

---------------------------------

A clown on a unicycle wheeled up to Victor, who smiled with relief at the thought of something not scary.

_I am the clown with the tear-away face!_

It tore off its face, revealing black nothingness, and Victor gasped with fright.

_Here in a flash…_

It snapped its fingers and disappeared in a billow of purple smoke. Victor put up his arms to protect himself.

…_and gone without a trace!_

---------------------------------

Cricket stuck her head out of the window next to Sally, who was brushing her hair and did not notice.

_I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"_

A wind swept through Sally's and Cricket's hair. Cricket grinned and enjoyed the feeling.

_I am the wind blowing through your hair!_

----------------------------------

Willy's shadow on the moon walked up to Oogie Boogie's shadow, unafraid.

_I am the shadow on the moon at night!_

_Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!_

Oogie's shadow dissolved into millions of bats, and Willy's shadow backed up and ran to go and see something else.

----------------------------------

Holli and Pebbles lounged on the walls of the town, watching a procession of ghoulish characters proceed into the town.

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween!_

----------------------------------

Erik watched with amusement as a monster child and a corpse child brought down a beheading device on a pumpkin.

_Tender lumplings everywhere!  
Life's no fun without a good scare!_

He jumped in surprise as two corpse parents walked up next to the children and had them follow.

_That's our job, but we're not mean!  
In our town of Halloween…_

-----------------------------------

Willy watched as the mayor sang with half of the town and the fictional group gathered together once more.

_In this town!_

_Don't we love it now?_

_Everyone's waiting for the next surprise!_

The scarecrow that everyone saw earlier was wheeled into the town on a horse. Pebbles nudged everyone and pointed at it.

_Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back,  
And scream like a banshee!  
Make you jump out of your skin!  
This is Halloween, everyone scream!  
Won't ya please make way for a very special guy!_

The scarecrow suddenly grabbed a torch. It stuck it in its mouth, stood up and ignited on fire, dancing.

_Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch!  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!_

"Who's Jack?" Victor whispered in Pebbles' ear, but she was too caught up in the show to notice.

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

The scarecrow somersaulted off of the horse and into a green fountain of water.

Pebbles motioned for the group to back up into the shadows. She did, too.

Two monster children peered into the pool.

_In this town we call home,  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song._

A skeleton man rose up from the pool as everyone else kept singing. He had a black pinstriped suit and a bat bowtie. He was EXTREMELY tall, even taller than Willy with his hat, with spindly arms and legs that looked ready to snap at any moment.

Pebbles gasped, her jaw dropping.

It all made sense now; a piece of the puzzle had been put together.

The ruler, the dead one, the letters "J.S."…

It was all one person.

Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king.

* * *

A/N: -tries to catch breath but fails- 

There! There it is!

This is THE biggest twist in the whole story! And the longest chappie so far!

Now, instead of separate characters going through one another's stories…

Everyone's getting a taste of their own medicine and going through THIS one!

Remember in the intro (good times, good times…) when I said something about a person named Jack, whom there was no info about? And how Pebbles would stand alone for most of the story?

-points at Jack, who shrugs and eats a cookie-

I didn't want to tell you about this part, since the story would be ruined.

And no, I'm not mentioning this in the summary, since new readers HAVE to enjoy the twist as much as you are now!

Review, and have a very happy holiday!


	16. The Meeting

A/N: -huggles new ski equipment-

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! Here's an update!

The Meeting

All of Halloween Town stopped singing and started clapping and cheering.

Jack explained about how everyone did great, all of the kids were scared, blah, blah, blah, nothing special…this Halloween was their most horrible yet-

Pebbles couldn't contain herself.

She hopped out from the shadows. "What, did, like, little kids laugh at you or something?"

All of the inhabitants, including Jack, turned to face her, and gasped. The townsfolk whispered among themselves, about how Pebbles was not wearing a costume, she was a teenager (well, ALMOST), and, most importantly…

She was a living human being!

Jack grinned his most evil grin, walked up to Pebbles and bent down a bit to reach her level. (Surprisingly, Pebbles reached his waist, which was pretty good for a 12 year old girl.)

"And what is your name?" he asked sinisterly.

Pebbles poked his forehead. "I am Pebbles, the authoress!" She leaned forward, causing Jack to lean backward. "And if you don't bow down to me and give me a peanut butter and jelly sammich THIS INSTANT, I will-"

Jack's face turned normal. He frowned. "What kind of a name is Pebbles?"

Willy bounded out in true Wonka fashion. "But Mr. Jack, it's the bestest of the best name that's ever been!"

Jack looked to Willy. "Who are you?"

Cricket snuck up on Jack from behind and pounced on him. "IT'S WILLY WONKA! And I'm Cricket!"

Holli shoved Cricket aside. "Go away, that's my spot!" she laughed.

Jack was utterly confused. "YOUR name, miss?"

"Holli! Like, OMIGOSH! I wanna sammich too!"

Amanda let loose an arrow and caught the corner of Jack's bowtie. He jumped, but he hid it to save face.

She walked out. "I'm Amanda. Fear teh cape swishie!" She swished her cloak at Jack, shouting, "Swish! SWISH! SWISH, DAMN YOU!"

Erik swooped out. "Erik, monsieur," he said charmingly, grabbing Jack's bony hand and shaking it enthusiastically, loosing his character for a moment. FOR A MOMENT.

Pebbles gestured to the side. "And this is…" Her smile disappeared, and she looked to where she was pointing.

There was only thin air.

Pebbles, Erik, Amanda, Willy, Holli, and Cricket turned to the place where they had been hiding, where Victor was standing rigid, trembling slightly.

They said slowly, as one, "Victor…."

Victor walked out slowly, and stuck out his hand shakily. "I-I-I'm V-Victor," he stammered, managing a weak smile.

Pebbles watched as Jack's face alighted into a grin and knew what he was thinking. She walked up and flicked the side of his head. "NO."

Jack gazed at Pebbles with puppy dog eyes.

"I said, NO. Victor is off limits for scaring, for health reasons."

Victor laughed a little.

A sea monster spoke up. "Jack, come on! At least scare ONE of them, darling."

Jack, after surveying them and eyeing Victor enviously, he turned to Pebbles.

She smirked. "Go on, try me. See what you can come up with."

Jack returned the smirk, and made a relatively frightening face.

Pebbles yawned. "Nope, not good enough."

He tried a scream to go with the face.

"Still not good enough."

Jack, getting a little annoyed now, made a hideous face.

"You're going to have to try harder, dude. I'm not three."

Jack went all out. An absolutely, drop dead, gross, ugly face donned his features. He screamed, moaned, whatever.

A slight chill went up Pebbles' spine, but she ignored it, hoping it wasn't visible.

No one reacted, so the chill was perfectly hidden.

Pebbles stretched luxuriously, scratched her arm, and looked Jack straight in the eye.

"That's not scary. That's just weird."

Jack frowned. _She's not afraid? Wow!_

The town groaned collectively.

A little teeny witch piped, "That's okay, Jack. We still love you!"

The groans turned into cheers. They started to enclose Jack, who was becoming extremely uncomfortable.

"Fangirls!" Holli giggled to Willy, who laughed as well.

Eventually Jack broke free, and scurried into an alleyway.

As the group started to follow, Pebbles pushed them back.

"No. I'll go by myself."

* * *

A/N: I made up the peanut butter and jelly sammich joke. (I think….) 

DO NOT STEAL!

Well, okay, you can use it, but…yeah, don't say you made it up unless it wasn't made up by me.

I'm confused...Can someone clear this up? xD


	17. The Duet

A/N: -falls asleep with chocolate Santa in mouth-

Whazzit? Oh, here's an….update….zzzzzz…..

The Duet

Pebbles followed Jack silently through the alleyway, past the graffiti, past the band, and up to the gates of the graveyard, which opened for Jack and Pebbles.

As soon as they were through, Jack walked down the winding pathway through the graveyard.

Pebbles, however, went off the path, past the gravestones, and ducked under the swirly hill, waiting.

She listened to Jack's singing, putting together a response in her head.

But then it struck her; his voice!

It was the same voice that had joined her briefly when she was singing in her own world! It knew the words perfectly and didn't stumble; it dipped and ducked and went up and down smoothly, enough to put even the most stubborn toddler to sleep.

How did he know?

Pebbles was broken off from her thoughts when she heard footsteps climbing up the hill. Taking care to stay hidden, she crawled over to the side and to the base, standing up slowly and positioning herself as if she had been waiting during the entire lament.

The right moment approached as Jack went on:

_But who here would ever understand_

_That the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin_

_Would tire of his crown?_

_If they only understood…_

_He'd give it all up, if only he could…_

Pebbles took a deep breath and started:

_There's only one thing I can see._

_A man just longing for someone to be_

_His companion through and till the end._

_To follow him through twists and bends…_

Jack turned around to look at Pebbles, surprised. Zero, Jack's ghost dog, who had been following him, barked and smiled in a very doggish way.

Pebbles sighed dramatically and ascended the hill.

_When it comes to writers, I'm one of the best!_

_For fans come to me from far and wide!_

_I string words together and make the best of worlds!_

_Most of the time without ever even trying._

She held her head high.

_With a push of a button and a bit of thought,_

_People really see my creations come to life!_

_With a toss of my hair and the click of a mouse,_

_A murder is committed with a knife!_

(A/N: Worst…rhyming…I've done…ever! But live with it, gosh darn the consequences!)

She was halfway up the hill now, and Jack was simply mulling it all over.

_But day after day, people push me on the stage,_

_And I get so tired of seeing words on a page._

_I, Amanda, the Authoress,_

_Sometimes wish for a little bit of rest…_

Pebbles paused and let Jack start in.

_I've gone and scared everyone,_

_I've succeeded every time._

_But you, the girl, the writer,_

_Have shunned my skills after one try._

Pebbles connected, but she used the same tune:

_We all have flaws, they lay in our hearts,_

_Some are deep, some are small,_

_But someone's tearing all of our lives,_

_Just because of their own fall…_

Pebbles was standing next to Jack now. They both stared out at the pumpkin patch in front of them, Pebbles' hair moving slightly in the wind.

Eventually, both of them sat down, letting their legs dangle off of the edge.

After a moment, Pebbles sighed. "Listen, can we stay with you?"

Jack was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean: Do you have room in your house for three boys and four girls?"

Jack thought a while. "Yes, I do. But let's go for a walk first and sort our thoughts."

They climbed off of the hill and set off for the woods.

Sally, hidden behind a gravestone, watched them go, her curiosity driving out her slight envy.

------Meanwhile------

Willy struggled to stay awake.

"Okay, that's just weird. They're doing prizes for most unusual entrance onto scaring ground. That's nuttier than one of my Nutty Crunch Surprise bars…and that's pretty darn nutty."

* * *

A/N: …zzz… 

I hope I can go skiing soon…it's gorgeous outside!


	18. The Amazement

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! YEAH!

Yeah…um...

Okay, sorry this update took a while, but this was wickedly hard to write; all song chapters are like that. -.-'

Not to mention I went skiing a lot this week.

The Amazement

Pebbles gently shook Jack awake.

After a minute he stretched and yawned. "Where are we?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Eh, somewhere out in the woods."

They walked for a while, Zero brushing against Pebbles' legs.

After a while, the woods started to thin.

"Jack…"

They had reached the holiday worlds of old.

Jack gaped as he looked around, admiring all of the doors. Pebbles watched him, half-smiling as she leaned against a tree, her arms crossed. "Pick a door. Any door."

After looking through most of them, Jack turned around, and gasped as he noticed the Christmas door.

Grinning wide, he reached for the doorknob and turned it…

Only to find the hollow inside of a tree trunk.

Pebbles walked over and sighed. "That sucks. Maybe next time…"

As she kept talking, Jack noticed a slight wind swirling around the two of them, along with a strange jingling.

"Woah! Pebbles! HELP!"

Pebbles turned around to find Jack struggling to keep himself out of the trunk, grasping at thin air for dear life.

Pebbles reached over desperately and caught Jack's skeletal hand with her own thin extremity.

She lost her balance by the extreme force, and both went tumbling into blackness.

--------------------------

She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on a pile of snow atop a large, steep hill. Jack sat next to her.

But he was staring out in absolute delight at the sprawling town before them.

It was covered in colored lights, and many people ran around, giggling and grinning as they chucked snowballs at each other or ice skated. A huge tree covered in numerous blinking lights stood at the center.

Hey! Aren't those ELFS?

And is that a CHRISTMAS tree?

Before Pebbles could point any of this out to Jack, he was sliding down the hill at top speed, eager to get to the bottom.

"Wait for me!" Pebbles yelled, sliding down the hill carefully; unless she was in a vehicle of some sort, she hated high speeds.

Eventually Jack hit the bottom, ramming into a smaller pile of snow.

Pebbles came headfirst after him, becoming completely covered in the white stuff. She couldn't see a millimeter in front of her, yet she could feel Jack's presence close to her.

After a few seconds she heard, slightly muffled through the snow: Jack singing "What's This?" without paying any attention to the elves around the town.

She popped out of the snow and watched him, slightly amused and satisfied at the fact that she knew something he didn't.

After the first verse he moved into another part of town; she followed.

Looking through lights, peeping through windows…Jack was as happy as a five year old let loose in a ten-story candy shop!

Pebbles peeped through a window with Jack as he went right on singing, not even paying attention to her.

_Oh look! What's this?_

_They're hanging mistletoe_

_They kiss?_

_Why, that looks so unique!_

Pebbles made a gagging sound.

_Inspired!_

Jack moved on, watching as more elves read stories and roasted chestnuts on a fire.

Pebbles gathered her thoughts for a quick moment.

_I know something that he doesn't! That be the true meaning of Christmas, yarr!_

_Come ON, girl, no time for that!_

_Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, he seems to be wicked happy. But any fan knows that he'll try to take over-_

She was interrupted by certain words that escaped Jack's mouth.

_So, now, correct me if I'm wrong,_

_This looks like fun! This looks like fun!_

Pebbles yelled, "Funtime!" Although Jack looked at her funny, he went right on singing, now breaking into a run as he moved around the town.

He moved past a house that was putting up and decorating a Christmas tree, a factory where they were making toys, a pastry shop-

Hold up!

Did someone say PASTRY SHOP?

Rummaging through her pocket for loose money, Pebbles ran into the shop, looking for something she could afford with the whole ten dollars that she racked up.

------------------------------

Jack jumped up onto a moving train, absolutely giddy with happiness now.

_I want it!_

_Oh, I want it for my own!_

_I've got to know, _

_I've got to know!_

He jumped off the train and onto a snowboard, riding it down a hill.

_What is this place that I have found?_

He leaped off the snowboard and marched back into the main part of the town, determined to find out the name of it.

_WHAT IS THIS?_

He walked headfirst into a pole and fell back into the snow.

Shaking his head to clear it, he opened his eyes and saw a thin hand reaching into the hole in the snow to help him up.

"Oomph, stwaighf intwo da polef. Tha's gottwa hurtf."

Jack grabbed the hand and pulled himself out of the hole, and came face-to-face with Pebbles, who was munching on a chocolate chip muffin.

She swallowed the large bite she had taken.

"We're in Christmas Town, just so you know."

She pointed to the large sign that marked the entrance to Christmas Town.

Jack examined it. _How could I have not noticed? Strange indeed…_

"Christmas Town? Hmm…"

Suddenly, a huge clock struck midnight. Pebbles and Jack whirled around to face it in confusion.

Jack was quickly torn away, however, when Pebbles pulled on his thin arm and pointed excitedly toward a door.

"Jack, look! Look! It's Santa Claus!"

"Uh…'Sandy Claws?'"

* * *

A/N: Um… 

Review?

Yeah, only two days left in winter break, including today.

-coughMY OLD SCHOOL HAD A LONGER BREAK!cough-

It's true. My old school in Florida (good times, good times…) started around the 15th and ended on January 10th or so. Here, they give you the shortest break possible; not much longer than spring break or the mid-February break.

Stupid school.


	19. The Demonstration

A/N: I have to go back to school tomorrow! -sniffle-

The Demonstration

Erik, Amanda, Willy, Holli, Victor, and Cricket slept soundly by Jack's house. They had fallen asleep long before the awards had finished. Now, the sun rose slowly over the town, and Erik's snores pierced the still air.

Cricket awoke with a start as she heard Pebbles shouting something from far away.

"Guys! Wake up!"

Willy stretched and moaned with annoyance.

"You woke me up…"

"Yeah, but Jack and Pebbles are riding into the town on a snowmobile!"

Amanda popped up and peered at the gates.

"And Jack's got some cheesy-fab sunglasses!"

After everyone was woken up, the group ran to the town square, where they were greeted enthusiastically by Pebbles.

"Wassup! How are you guys?" she asked cheerily, hugging each and every person that had arrived in Halloween Town with her.

"Tired," was their reply.

Just then, Jack approached them. "Listen, I need your help…"

* * *

"NO! I am NOT going out like this!" 

"But you need to…"

"Can you at least give me a different outfit?"

"Come off it! You're fine!"

Pebbles adjusted the hat on Victor's head and tossed her hair back, revealing her naturally pointy ears. She was dressed up as an elf, as was Victor. "You're okay, sweetie. Everyone looks like this, except for Erik."

Victor looked around angrily to Erik, but his anger turned to fear when Erik waved the Punjab lasso at him, smirking. He turned back to the mirror and sighed. "For obvious reasons, I'm guessing?"

"Yes. Very obvious reasons. He's working the lights."

Holli came out of the room in a Santa Claus outfit. "I like my costume!" she exclaimed, flicking the little bell on her hat out of her eyes. "Besides, my costume jingles." She grinned.

"My costume jingles more!" Willy yelled, playfully waving a bell on his own hat at Holli.

Cricket and Amanda finished putting up the Christmas tree. "Everything's set," Cricket said, dusting off her own Santa costume.

Jack grinned. "Perfect! Just get into place!"

As he walked off, Pebbles nodded her head to Amanda. "Signs ready?"

Amanda smirked. "Ready."

---------------------------------

"And Christmas is when everyone gives presents to each other and sings songs!"

"Songs of imminent DOOM?"

"No. Cheery songs, like…"

As Jack started singing some random Christmas carol, Cricket subtly gave Amanda and Pebbles a thumbs-up.

They looked at each other, nodded, and held up a sign. It had a speech bubble leading from where Jack's mouth was. Inside, it read:

_Prevent elf cruelty and give us a PBJ sammich today! _

Some of the people giggled. Jack, confused, turned around to check out what was going on, but Amanda and Pebbles had already hid the sign.

He shook his head and turned around.

Amanda and Pebbles held up an even bigger sign that read:

_KFC r0x0rz my b0x0rz! _

More of the town laughed a little. Jack turned around once more to find the sign hidden and Pebbles and Amanda leaning on each other, grinning innocently.

He faced the front again, his teeth gritted, now frustrated.

The group let him go on for a while. After about 10 minutes Jack relaxed and talked more freely, knowing that nothing unusual was happening behind him.

But after 12 minutes in total, Cricket came over to help Amanda and Pebbles lift up a sign that was half the size of the wall behind them.

This one read:

_POOOOOP!_

That did it. The town went into absolute hysterics, falling over and wiping tears from their eyes. Some even clutched their sides and stomachs in an effort to stop laughing, but kept right on going.

Although the group hid the sign in time, Jack knew what was going on, seeing as there was a small corner of poster board peeking out from behind the tree.

After hushing the town as best he could, Jack finished his speech, drew the curtains, and whirled around angrily to face the girls, who were trying their best to hide their smiles.

"What did you do? I look like a total idiot now!"

Erik dropped down from the top rafters.

"Never trust a bunch of preteens in unusual outfits, Jack. I learned that a very long time ago."

* * *

A/N: Seeing as this is the last day of winter break, I won't be able to update as frequently! 

Just remember, though: I get off on the 16th, not to mention my other winter break is on February 17th!

Yeah! Only a month or so! –sarcasm-


	20. The Moving In

A/N: HOLY BACON AND CHEESE!

I CAN'T believe it! My school actually CLOSED today! It NEVER closes!

Anyway, because I got so lucky today, here is an update. It may be tiny, but it's an update.

The Moving In

"And here are your rooms. Men on this side, women on the other. Listen, I have to…go to bed, so I'll see you in the morning."

Pebbles, Cricket, Holli, and Amanda went into their room, while Erik, Willy, and Victor headed into theirs.

**Boy's Room**

"AIEE! It's dark!"

"What is the MATTER with you, boy? Darkness won't hurt you!"

"Unless it's filled with snozzwangers and whangdoodles and…"

As Willy began recounting all of the dangerous creatures he knew about, Erik searched for a lamp. After a few minutes he found one and lit it, causing a few bats to fly out of the room. (OMG "Vincent" moment/cameo!)

Victor, startled by the bats, gave a shout and fell over, twitching on the floor.

Willy helped him up. "You're a strange fella, aren't cha?"

"At least this room is decent," Victor muttered, dusting off his suit and looking around.

The room was about the size of Pebbles' bedroom, minus the alcove and some of the furniture. There was a desk, a bed (which Willy got possession of because he wasn't used to sleeping on hard ground), the lamp, a nightstand, and….

"A piano!" Erik and Victor shouted together.

Both ran to it and lay their hand on it, glaring at each other.

"I get the piano!"

"You're crazy, sir! I get it!"

"Actually, I am crazy. Now MOVE!"

"Why don't you?"

Willy watched the fight go back and forth, wishing it would settle on its own.

**Girl's Room**

"Do you hear something?"

"No. Find an outlet in here, we need to plug in the amp."

* * *

A/N: Told you it was tiny. Lol! 


	21. The Annoyance

A/N: I am now EXTREMELY occupied, so this story will kind of be pushed to the back of my list of things to do...sorry!

Fortunately for us, this story isn't too hard to write, and we're really into it now! Yay!

The Annoyance

"Serves you right," Erik smirked as Victor sat on the bed with Willy, his disappointment overpowering his hatred.

As he played a bunch of random songs, Willy leaned over and whispered to Victor, "Its okay. He's a lil' mean, anyways." Victor responded with a sigh.

XXXXX

"Is it working?"

"No, not yet. Something's with the button."

"Lemme try…What the dip?"

"No, no, no, the volume level is down, that's why it's not working."

The guitar was plugged in and the volume turned up to max.

XXXXX

"Are you sure he'll get off quickly?"

"Absolutely positive, lil' boy."

"Don't you call me a little boy! I'm engaged!"

Willy searched Victor's hands. "Don't see a ring."

Suddenly a loud guitar note rang clearly through the room, bouncing off the walls and causing Erik to fall out of his chair.

They heard a female's voice yell, "Yeah, it's working!" followed by many other giggles.

Victor laughed. "THAT'S a ring."

Whoever was playing the guitar started playing Green Day VERY loudly, using all of the various songs.

XXXXX

Pebbles covered her ears, screwing up her eyes. "Holli, turn it DOWN!"

Holli shrugged carelessly as she kept playing. "Not my fault you made me a party animal."

Amanda snuck over and turned it down a few notches, enough so that everyone could listen to it comfortably and not damage their hearing.

XXXXX

Jack jumped out of bed, knocking various Christmas books over.

"WHAT is going ON down there?"

He swept down two flights of stairs, sprinted down one hallway, turned a corner, and found that the faraway sound that sounded like an explosion was actually guitar music.

_Wherever did they get a guitar from?_

As he stood in front of the two rooms, Jack found that the sound was coming from the girls' room. Opening the door, he gaped as he found Holli playing a light blue guitar, fully plugged in with an amplifier. All of the other girls were listening, singing along with the songs that Holli played.

Jack shouted, "STOP!"

Although the guitar was incredibly loud, Holli heard his voice and turned off the amp.

XXXXX

"Is it over?" Victor asked, removing his hands from his ears.

"Yeah, it's over," Willy responded.

The men heard hushed whispers occurring on the girls' side, some complaints being spoken louder than regular sentences. Finally they heard a frustrated sigh and a loud "Alright", followed by a door closing quietly.

Jack opened their door suddenly.

"We've agreed to get together. All of us."

* * *

A/N: Methinks there will be a party soon… 


	22. The Bet

A/N: AIEE! Sorry that this got delayed! I was WAY too lazy yesterday and I didn't put it up. (And I was complaining that I had nothing to do…)

The Bet

Pebbles shouted, "Victor playing charades!"

Victor dropped his arms and sighed. "Yes, but no. Try again."

Everyone was in the tower in pajamas, with sleeping bags. Amanda had on purple, silky pajamas with a blue sleeping bag and pillow, while Erik wore looser pants and a ruffly shirt; his sleeping bag was black and his pillow was white. Holli sported an oversized black "Fall Out Boy" t-shirt with fuzzy sweatpants and a grey sleeping bag and a plain white pillow. Willy wore green pajamas with a red sleeping bag and pillow, and his hat was off. Cricket had on a tight t-shirt with a cartoon cat on it and cat pajama bottoms; her sleeping bag and pillow was all purple, complete with a cat plushie. Victor wore light blue striped pajamas and had a green sleeping bag and a white pillow. (White pillows are new wave '06, dawg.) Finally, Pebbles wore a large Spiderman shirt that said something in Japanese and light pink sweatpants; both her sleeping bag and pillow was black and purple, and she had a Vincent plushie that she had made herself. Jack was in his normal sleepwear outfit: a plain white nightgown (because of which he got playfully teased) and a grayish night hat…thing. He was sleeping in his normal bed.

But enough of descriptions. Let's get back to what was happening before.

"Um…banana?"

"Close."

Jack yelled, "Apple!"

"Noo…."

Erik smirked. "A fruit basket with 2 oranges."

Victor's arms stopped in midair and he looked astounded. "How did you even get that? I thought it would be impossible!"

Willy looked around, and then giggled. "Nothing's impossible. I proved that a long time ago."

Holli pointed at him. "And not everyone's sane! YOU proved that a long time ago!" She laughed.

Amanda leapt up. "I wanna go next!" She ran up to the head of the room and thought for a moment.

Then she mimicked rowing in a canoe, then shooting something. She clutched her chest, made a midget squeal, and dropped to the floor with her eyes closed and her tongue hanging out.

Cricket frowned. "What the heck was that?"

"Someone stealing a cocoa bean from an Oompa-Loompa?" Willy asked.

Pebbles rocketed out of her spot, causing Jack to fall over. "WAR! I did that for French class!" (A/N: I did; we were playing charades for our vocab, and "history" was mine, so I did exactly what Amanda did. Everyone was like, "xDDDDDDD!")

Erik turned around to gaze at her adoringly. "You take French?"

Pebbles put on a snooty face and stood up straighter. "Of course I do."

Holli stuffed a marshmallow in her mouth. "How were we supposed to know that?"

"Who knows. My turn."

Pebbles walked up to the front, put her hands behind her back, and gazed around the room at everybody.

She closed her eyes, jumped up and down excitedly, then shouted:

"UUUUUUUUSUKI!"

Victor tumbled backwards, and Erik gave her a weirded out look. Willy opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it in confusion; Holli and Jack exchanged gaping glances. Amanda said, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "Um…"

Cricket, however, grinned. "The Usuki man!"

Pebbles smiled at her. "From where?"

"Neopets. Everyone knows that."

Victor pushed himself up. "Let's do something different."

Amanda waved a chip bag. "First let's figure out how we get all of these random items!"

Willy yelled, "No! Dancing!"

Erik burrowed in a sleeping bag and peeked out at them all with glowing yellow eyes. "Sleep."

Victor started to pick up his sleeping bag, but Jack stopped him. "Let's exchange scary stories."

Pebbles squealed. "YEAH! That's what you do at sleepovers! Tell scary stories!"

Victor grabbed a pillow and hid behind it. "I don't like scary stories."

Cricket threw her cat plushie at him. "Of course you don't. You're Victor."

Jack yawned. "Well, I sort of had a bit of a bet…"

Everyone whirled around to look at him, and said as a whole, "For WHO?"

He grinned. "Pebbles."

The gaze in the room shifted slowly to Pebbles. Her eyes widened. "Me?"

"Yes, you."

Pebbles squeezed her Vincent plushie nervously (it squeaked) and sighed. A mischievous grin stole over her face.

"Bring it!"

* * *

A/N: I want a Vincent plushie! I'll have to make one someday. 


	23. The Spanish Train

A/N: I am currently worshiping Mia because she let me have her Edgar Allan Poe book. 'Tis filled with a lot of stories, poems, and songs! Also: sorry this was late! I thought I had already updated, but the chappie stayed stuck in here!

The Spanish Train

Jack stretched, as if the whole affair was boring him, the looked back to Pebbles.

"Alright, here's what it is. YOU have to frighten ME with a story of some kind."

Holli shouted, "That's impossidible!"

Jack ignored her and went on, "Tell any one you want, but it must be something you know by heart; no using a book or any other reference."

Amanda looked from side to side, and then hid her own scary story book behind her back.

Pebbles made a face. (It's that expression where you kinda move your lower jaw to one side and look to your left, as if thinking.) She bit her lip in anticipation. "What's in it for me?"

"If you win, I'll do something for you. If you lose…"

Jack grinned, showing his teeth this time to prove his point.

"I'll give you time to think."

Pebbles held up her hand as she headed for the light switch. "That's alright. I already know what to do."

After making sure Victor was in between Erik and Amanda, she flipped the light switch, encasing the room with total darkness.

There was a long silence .

Cricket said, "So…"

But she was cut off by the sound of the screeching of a train on the tracks. The sound was not metallic, but instead deep and hollow.

Victor yelled, "The ground turned into dirt!"

The group heard a guitar as their surroundings started to emerge around them. Train tracks lay stretched in front of them, and an old wooden house lay nearby.

At a break, a small light seemed to be flicked, and Pebbles appeared in front of them, perfectly safe.

She took a deep breath, and began her story.

"There's a Spanish train that runs between…"

Two signs appeared, one on the left side and one on the right.

"Guadalquivir…" Pebbles pointed to the one on the right, "…and old Seville." She pointed to the other sign.

"In the dead of night the whistle blows, and people hear," she shrugged, "She's running still."

She made a shh-ing gesture with her hands. "Then they hush their children back to sleep." She snapped her fingers. "Lock the doors. Upstairs they creep…" Footsteps sounded overhead.

"For it is said that the souls of the dead fill that train…"

An old, rusty train rushed past them, ruffling the blankets (everyone had their sleeping bags and pillows) and everyone's except Jack's hair.

"Ten thousand deep!"

Pebbles switched to singing as a deathbed appeared near them and a family traveled over from the house, supporting a man who looked deathly ill. They were sobbing.

Pebbles continued…

* * *

A/N: Otay, this is just about the hardest chapter to write! I'm going to break this down over 3 chapters, since it's relatively long. I'm using the song "Spanish Train" by Chris De Burgh; every heard of it? (I DO NOT own it.) 

I just thought that it tells a very bone-chilling story, so I used it!


	24. The Spanish Train 2

A/N: This took a while. I was lazy and didn't update when I was supposed to…

Anyhoodles, here's the second part of the story! Read this chapter as if it was in the last chapter.

The Spanish Train 2

_Well, the railway man lay dying,_

_With his people by his side._

_His family were crying_

_Knelt in prayer before he died._

Pebbles' voice got deeper as a shadowy, unrecognizable figure appeared over the deathbed.

_But above his bed,_

_Just a-waiting for the dead_

_Was the devil with a twinkle in his eye!_

Pebbles now shut up as the shadowy man (now known to the group as the devil) spoke in a voice as deep and raspy as anything.

_Well, God's not around_

_And look what I've found!_

He let out a triumphant shout.

_This one's mine!_

Pebbles started talking once again as she turned around and pointed behind her.

"Just then, the Lord himself appeared! In a blinding…"

There was a bright flash. "…flash of light."

Yes, indeed, there was Jesus himself, just as any picture had shown the party.

"And he shouted at the devil:"

Jesus spoke as he pointed to the devil, his voice thundering.

"Get thee hence to endless night!"

Pebbles took over. The story seemed to be switching between three voices: Pebbles, the devil, and Jesus. (Keep track of who's saying what! Pebbles is narrating.)

"But the devil just grinned and said:"

"I may have sinned, but there's no need to push me around! I got here first, so you can do your worst…"

The devil laughed, a spine tingling, evil laugh.

"He's going underground!"

He shrugged.

"But I think I'll give you one last chance…"

"Said the Devil with a smile."

"So throw away that stupid lance! It's really…not your style."

Now the devil advanced on Jesus with menace. Victor was cowering where he sat, Amanda was trying to calm him down, Erik was watching with growing interest, Willy, Holli, and Cricket seemed to be spooked, and Jack wore no expression at all.

"Joker is the name, poker is the game! We'll play right here on his bed! And then we'll bet for the biggest stakes yet…"

The devil's voice got loud and echoey.

_The souls of the dead!_

Pebbles snapped her fingers, and the scene froze, as if they were watching a movie. She turned to the group, acting as dramatic as humanly possible.

"And I said:"

_Look out! Lord, he's gonna win!_

_The sun is down and the night's riding in!_

_That train is dead on time; many souls are on the line, oh Lord…_

_He's gonna win…_

Now all of the people disappeared, and Pebbles pulled out a deck of cards out of nowhere.

"Well, the railwayman, he cut the cards…"

* * *

A/N: AIEE! I am feeling so damn sick, it's ridonkulous…. 

Anyway, I'm going to change my penname, so don't be weirded out if you see this story under a different penname. It's still me!


	25. The Judging and a Snap

A/N: I can't wait any longer! I WANT CORPSE BRIDE ON DVD! –wails like Veruca Salt-

The Judging and a Snap

Well, of course, the real Pebbles, who is sitting at her laptop eating heart shaped chocolates and playing Neopets, was too lazy to continue the rest of the song and too busy dreaming up fluffely scenes for her other active fanfic. If you wanna hear the rest of the song, go buy it off of iTunes or something. xD

Let me just say it involved a card game, a bunch of souls up for bet, and Victor nearly wetting the bed. Seriously.

-------------

"That's it. No more."

Everyone applauded, except for Jack, who seemed to be racking his skeletal brain, trying to figure out something to say.

Cricket poked Jack. "What's your verdict, dood?"

He was silent, then he crossed his arms and grinned.

"I have to say, it was pretty good. Especially the scenery-"

Pebbles' smile faded.

"What scenery?"

Victor's voice cracked a little as he explained, "We were in somewhere we didn't recognize, as if we were in the story itself. There were train tracks, and an old house, and…"

"I didn't take you guys anywhere. We were in this room the entire time."

Silence.

Amanda smacked her hand on the ground. "What the hell is with all of the weirdness?"

Jack flung his hand, as if shooing away the idea. "Let's just leave it for now. Anyway, good storyline, good ideas, good dramaticness…"

He sighed. "Not good enough to scare me."

Chaos erupted among the group.

"It was perfectly good!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I nearly died!" (That was Victor.)

Pebbles threw a bag of marshmallows at the group. "Guys, guys! Yeah, I'll admit, it was perfectly creepy, once you put some thought into it, but COME ON. He practically invented fear." She bit into a chip with relish, and a loud snap came from one of her back teeth.

"AIEE!"

She stomped her foot. "Damn these braces! I can't do anything with them!"

Willy zoned out. Holli gave him a weirded-out look.

Erik stood up. "Let me see."

Pebbles opened her mouth and let him examine about to find the said broken bracket.

After a few seconds, he stuck his finger in and wiggled something. "There it is. Not too loose, but loose indeed."

Victor took a peek, and gasped and backed away.

"Good God, girl, what did they do to your mouth!" Obviously he had found the thick wire that spanned the roof of her mouth and was used to spread her jaw. He had also discovered the four teeth that were covered in metal.

"Is that permanent?"

Amanda showed him her retainer. "Of course not. When your teeth are all straight and stuff they take off the braces, replace them with this wire for about a year, and then remove the wire."

Willy snapped out of his little thought box, noticed the topic of conversation, and scrunched up his eyes. "There can be headgear, too."

Jack swung the topic of conversation around.

"Sooo…I found this book…"

----------------

A/N: I have discovered at my last braces tightening that 14-year-old Amanda (me) is inaccurate when it comes to dental wear. I'm getting my braces off by summer, then comes my 13 b-day in August, then I will probably have my retainer off by the end of middle school. So…really I'll have bare teeth when I'm 14.

But this is fanfic, right?


	26. The Experiments

Victor: Okay, seeing as I knocked out Amanda –points to other fanfic, "Tori"- I'm going to be taking over all of the author's notes for two chapters…or at least until she wakes up.

Amanda hasn't been able to update because she went to New Hampshire for skiing this weekend, and the other times she was too busy with her new Corpse Bride DVD.

And-hey, does this story have ME in it? You've got to be kidding me…

The Experiments

"HAHAHAHA stupid."

"No, it'll work. I can feel it, you know?"

"You're completely mad."

"Hehe. She knows."

"Your mom knows."

"That didn't sound too good."

Pebbles stuck her nose back into her copy of "Uglies" by Scott Westerfield. "Aw, give Jack some time. He knows what he's doing."

Erik glared at the title of the book for a second, then said, "It doesn't look like it."

"He totally knows what he's doing!"

"He's putting Christmas tree ornaments into boiling water."

Holli plucked a few strings on her guitar. "Well, he does seem to have a plan. I'm with Pebbles."

Victor opened one eye from where he lounged on the bed. "Forgive me for my mistake. You're all mad."

Willy poked him with his cane. "Lighten up, silly!" He laughed.

Cricket bounced in from the hallway. "Now he's pacing like crazy! He's done all of these insane experiments and crap and expects to get something for it." She licked her lollipop and sat down next to Erik and Amanda.

Amanda took off her retainer with her tongue, then replaced it. "Mhhrfmhpph."

Erik smirked and mockingly held one hand up to his ear. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Mhhrfmhpph!"

"Speak up!"

Amanda took out her retainer and shouted a profanity Erik's way. Despite being out of her story and out of her universe, her retainer got monthly updates. Since she was nearing the end of her treatment, it had updated in such a way that she had trouble speaking when it was on.

Pebbles made her voice an exact replica of Mike Teavee's. (Yes, Amanda CAN do this. Quite realistically, I might add.) "You mean that's it?"

Willy, recognizing the voice, snorted with disgust. "Do you even know what IT is?"

"Yeah, of course! She said-"

Jack suddenly burst into the room, a happy grin on his face.

"Guess what! We'll be doing Christmas this year!"

Holli did a girly-girl gasp. "Omigosh, like, NO WAY. Shut up, Becky, SHUT UP!"

"Nonono, it's true. We're doing Christmas this year!"

"Instead of the people who do Christmas this year?"

"Uh, yeah…"

-------------------

Victor: Okay, there's a nice, short chapter for you. It was already written when I stepped in to update.


	27. The Randomness

A/N: I am aliiive! Um…yay!

The Randomness

Pebbles pretended to fall asleep and snore. There was a huge line of people waiting to get an assignment of jobs, and she was getting kind of sick of people gazing at her in awe, as if she were on display.

When it was her turn, Sally ran up with the most nervous look in the world.

"Hi Sally!" Holli said enthusiastically, waving. (Sally had always been her favorite character.) Everyone else gave her polite hellos.

She waved distractedly to them, but told Jack about a weird vision she'd had about how his Christmas wasn't going to work. He replied that it wasn't in HIS Christmas.

"Do you have ANY idea how insane this idea is?" Victor asked Jack, putting on a disbelieving look.

"I think he's quite considered that," Erik said back.

They began a heated discussion about it while Jack sent Sally off. 3 kids in costumes approached him.

Willy laughed. "You look weird!"

Jack gave him a dirty look. "They're not weird. In fact," he said, gesturing toward the kids, "They're some of the best trick-or-treaters in Halloween Town!"

"That's right, Mr. Jack," the kid in the devil costume said. He removed his mask and grinned. "Lock!"

The girl dressed as a witch did likewise. "Shock!"

The last one, a boy in a skeleton costume, came between them, also with his mask off. "And Barrel!"

Cricked screamed and latched onto Jack's shoulders. "NOOO! Don't trust them! I swear, one of them looks like Lil from Rugrats!"

Amanda took a good look at the trio. "You're actually right. Heck, Barrel might even BE Lil from Rugrats!"

"That'd be so scary."

Pebbles said, "Sorry, Shock and Barrel, but Lock just…kicks your asses." She shook her head and held up her hands. "Sorry, but it's totally true."

Lock smirked at his comrades, who glared back at him.

Jack peeled Cricket off of him. "Stop being silly. Now…"

He brought all of them in close and whispered his plans to them. The Mayor, who was standing next to Jack, tried to listen in, but Cricket whacked him upside the head.

Back to the discussion between Victor and Erik…

"We've agreed then?"

"Yes, Erik. Jack has gone completely insane. Just like the rest of us."

"You're not insane. I am."

Holli interrupted them. "Isn't the sun in Teletubbies scary? It's just like…" She put on a creepy happy face to show what it looked like, and then proceeded to ramble on about how the staff of Chuck E. Cheese had to search the place thoroughly after hours to check for hiding toddlers, in case they got out and hotwired the robots so they'd become their zombie slaves…

Aaaand…back to the other people!

"And don't tell a soul. Got it?"

"Got it, Jack!" The kids chorused, although they had their hands behind their backs. They started to leave, but Jack caught them and added seriously, "Least of all Oogie Boogie!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel insisted they wouldn't tell anyone, then kept walking along, giggling madly to themselves afterward.

"Who's Oogie Boogie?" Victor asked, having broken free of Holli's random ranting.

Pebbles said, "He's a giant, gazillion foot tall burlap sack! AND HE'S GONNA EAT YOU!"

Victor didn't really say anything for the rest of the day, but kept glancing over his shoulder.

-------------------

A/N: Okay, the things about the scary sun in Teletubbies and the Chuck E. Cheese robots were excerpts from conversations with a kid in my grade named Brett, who happens to be on my bus as well.

We're so weird…


	28. The Sneaks

A/N: Okay, LISTEN FREAKIN' CAREFULLY! For Lent this year (I'm Catholic), I have decided to sacrifice using my computer for all 40 days. –sniffle- It'll be a challenge, but I survived sacrificing chocolate, didn't I?

So mark it on your calendars: APRIL 16! Yeah, I know, it's a while, but suck it up and read some other fics if you're bored. xP

Note: I won't return to writing immediately; Lent won't have a point that way. I'll draw it out, so just keep checking after Easter.

**EDIT: Okay, I lied. My mom pointed out that it would be kind of pointless to give up the rights of using my computer entirely, seeing as I need it to type up reports and stuff. So I'm just giving up Neopets! YAY!**

The Sneaks

"This is insane, but just follow me."

"What are we doing again?"

Holli turned around and put a finger to her lips. "We're going to see if we can take a peek at Oogie Boogie's place."

Victor tugged at his clothing, much different from what he was used to. He was wearing a form-fitting black T-shirt and black jeans that were slightly looser, to allow easier movement. He was also sporting black sneakers, and his hair had been combed out so that it was no longer slick and fancy, but rather scruffy and down-pat. Not surprisingly but surprisingly all the same, if you let it hang loose like a girl's, it would almost reach his shoulders; that's just how much was put up.

Holli was wearing a similar outfit, except that she put her hair in a ponytail and she had put some paler base on all visible parts of her skin so that her tan wouldn't stand out.

Moving away from descriptions, it was two days later from when construction on Jack's Christmas began. Lock, Shock, and Barrel had just managed to get Santa from his realm to Halloween Town, and had taken him to whereabouts unknown.

But, having been a fan of the movie herself, Holli knew better. It was around two a.m., not a very active time in Halloween Town (mostly activity ended at 1:30 am), so Holli and Victor had taken the liberty of sneaking out from Jack's place and going down the path that led to Oogie's Hollow.

Now the house loomed in front of the pair, its towers spiraling out into the moonlight and various, undistinguishable sounds coming from deep inside the ground.

"Why are the sounds coming from underground and not in the house?" Victor whispered, his thick English accent sounding funny from fear and mostly because his voice could barely be heard.

Holli looked around for some way of looking into the place. "I know for a fact that the torture chamber is downstairs, but I can't quite say why Oogie is never in the house itself. He might be too big."

"Just HOW big is he, exactly?"

Holli gave him a look that told him that he was lucky if they'd stay alive. Victor gulped.

"Don't stress, Victor. It's really easy to bypass the security and crap, and I've got a plan."

Victor gave her a disbelieving look, and Holli rolled her eyes.

"Look, let's just see what's going on," she told him, pointing to a thick cable leading into a deep chasm. A barred window was set into the wall about halfway down.

They climbed together, Victor staying close behind Holli so that Oogie didn't see him first and so that he could catch Holli if she slipped, and vice-versa. Someone might spot him, yeah, but the worst that could happen was Oogie finding them, and Holli had proof that he wasn't outside. He was never outside.

"Meepit?"

"Er…juice break?"

"Good boy." (the two devised a coded sound check so that they wouldn't lose each other)

Finally, they reached the window and peered inside.


	29. The Noticing

A/N: -bangs head on the wall- FINALLY! For a very long time the Doc. Manager wouldn't let me upload a thing, not to mention I went skiing all weekend. But here it is! An update! And I'm now on Feb. vacation!

The Noticing

Cricket snapped her eyes open at the same time that Jack let out a cry of anguish.

"WHERE did they go?"

She sat up and saw Jack glaring down at Willy, who was shifting uneasily from foot to foot and looking uncomfortable.

"Well, Jack, I saw them sneaking out and…" He shrugged, as if to regain his coolness. "No idea after that."

Jack smacked his forehead. "We've still got some work to do and some of our best minds are gone."

Erik snorted and bit into a piece of toast.

"Good riddance, if you ask me. Holli was hyperactive and Victor was a coward."

Pebbles squeaked her Vincent plushie. "Victor was pretty nice. You can throttle me for creating Holli, though-"

"With pleasure."

Amanda let an arrow loose, which stuck into Erik's bit of toast and caused him to jump in alarm. "Not LITERALLY, you nut."

Cricket just buried her face in her pillow and groaned. Willy, noticing she was up, nudged her with his cane. "Wake up, sleepyhead. We've got some searchin' to do."

"NO." The change in character made Pebbles furrow her brows. Cricket was normally very bouncy and cheerful, but this morning she seemed to be…cranky.

_Oh, I see! Must be a flaw in character. She's probably not a morning person._

Jack sighed. "Someone kill me."

Pebbles managed to crack a grin, the first one all morning. "You're already dead."

Erik, who had gotten up hopefully, plopped back down into his chair with a pout.

**7 hours before- Oogie's Hollow**

Holli slunk down the rope, trying as hard as she could to be quiet. Victor was sneaking afterward, keeping his eyes on the wall. Holli had covered his eyes before he could get a glimpse of Oogie. Now she had unrolled a rope down the wall and instructed Victor not to look up, so he still had no idea what Oogie looked like.

Holli examined the wall underneath her, noting any possible weak spots and going the way she thought looked strongest. She prayed that her feet and eyes wouldn't betray her, that she would get down safely without making a sound.

Unknown to her, the same thoughts were running through Victor's head as well. He prayed that no one would hear them and that Holli knew what she was doing, and he willed himself not to look up, as curious as he was to see how bad Oogie could be.

Time seemed to slow down as they snuck down the wall. It stopped about a few feet from the bottom.

Holli heard something crack underneath her foot. She screwed up her eyes in a "Crap, we're dumb-asses" expression, her mind furiously hoping that Oogie didn't hear her.

"Well, well, well! Looks like we got some EXTRA munchies for this sleepover!"

Uh…oh…

She gently but firmly placed her head against the wall. Her voice cracking, she whispered to Victor:

"Victor, you can turn around now."

Relieved, Victor turned his head around and let out a shout. This was NOT what he was expecting, not in his wildest thoughts. He started whimpering, forgetting Pebbles' instruction not to show fear in this town.

Never had the thought crossed his mind during this entire adventure, but he thought it anyway.

_PLEASE let this be a dream!_

Oogie simply laughed hysterically when he saw Victor's reaction, Santa wearing a confused expression.

Holli, seeing what was happening, jumped down from the rope and pointed at Oogie, putting on her best "don't mess with me" look on her pale face, which had turned paler at the sound of Oogie's voice.

"Leave. Us. Be."

Oogie laughed harder, and Holli managed to spot a bug or two coming from his mouth. "Like that's ever gonna happen."

He advanced toward Holli. Victor tried to scramble back up the rope, but Holli yanked him back down.

"Escape Route V.3!"

"What?"

Holli bent her knees, ready to jump.

"GO!"

**Present**

Jack tried his best to pay attention to the construction of his Christmas going on around him, but his mind kept wandering back to what Pebbles had told him before he had left.

They had had a bit of an argument, seeing as both were on extreme edge from Holli and Victor mysteriously going missing. Jack had left in a huff, but couldn't close the front door in time to block out Pebbles' last words:

"Because I care!"

----------

A/N: YOU figure out what the words mean. As for Holli and Victor…that's the last you'll be hearing from them for a while.


	30. The Last Days

A/N: Ah, yes. A piece of written-at-school material, just like the latest chappie of "Tori". But this came first, during study. Some people watched me for a few seconds, me scribbling like crazy on some paper, having to get up and sharpen my pencil every five minutes. Yeah…

The Last Days

Pebbles made an angry sound, stomped back up to the girls' room, and plopped down on her sleeping bag, annoyed.

Amanda nodded in sympathy. "He can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

Pebbles responded with a sigh as she accepted an offered Wonka bar from Willy.

"Holli and Victor have gone missing, Jack is being an idiot, and his Christmas is going to be a disaster," she said, taking a bite out of the chocolate. "And I don't even know how to get home."

"None of us know how," Erik called from the piano, which he had moved from the boys' room.

Finally Cricked wiggled out of bed, her eyes barely open. She blinked a few times, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and yawned. "What's up?"

----------------

For the next few weeks, everyone stood their ground. Jack and Pebbles exchanged very few words during the time, and Holli and Victor were still nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Jack's Christmas ideas were growing into reality. Toys bounced and squeaked everywhere people went, and during one of Jack's late nights, Erik even threw one full-force at the wall and smashed it.

'It had what was coming to it," he explained, satisfied that he had finally let his anger out. (A/N: My friend Caroline actually laughed hysterically when I showed her this part!)

The last few days before Christmas came and went. On the night before Christmas Eve, Pebbles went out for a walk in search of some exercise and fresh air. What she found was Jack sitting on the swirly hill, skull in hands as he looked out into space.

Pebbles walked up the hill and sat next to him. "Hi."

He looked at her blankly. "Hello."

"You nervous?"

He sighed and turned his gaze to the moon. "Yeah."

"Don't worry, Jack, you'll be fine. It was your idea in the first place." She smiled at him, hoping to cheer him up, and to her surprise, he grinned back.

"Yeah, I guess so." He gave her a quick squeeze before heading back down the hill.

"Jack, wait!"

He looked back to her. "What is it now?"

"I know how we can make you less nervous."

"How?"

Pebbles smiled evilly as she whipped out a small machine. "Walkie-Talkies."

----------------

A/N: NEVER underestimate the power of Walkie-Talkies. o.0


	31. The Disastrous Eve

A/N: -is feeling extreme creativity block-

I keep thinking my drawings aren't good…

The Disastrous Eve

"Scribble to Skeleton! Scribble to Skeleton! Do you read me?" –shh-ing sound-

"Skeleton to Scribble! I'm good." –shh-ing sound-

"Orpheus to Scribble! Why do you have to make the 'shhh' sound?"

"Candyman to Orpheus! Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhhhhhhhh!"

"Bug to Candyman! Shut the dip up."

"Apprentice to Bug! Your problem." –shhh-

Pebbles twirled her Walkie-talkie in her hands as she stood on one side of town. A headset sat on her head, the mic close to her mouth. Her Hershey shirt was on, along with a pair of blue sweatpants. A bunch of people were looking at her funny, but it was only one or two, seeing as the rest were gathered around the runway where Jack was getting ready. His Santa costume was on, and several bony reindeer were strapped onto the front of the casket-sleigh. He adjusted a wire and rolled his shoulders.

On the other sides of town, several other people stood separate. All of them had headsets and Walkie-talkies. Erik (Orpheus) stood near Jack's house, with a radar screen next to him. Cricket (Bug) was inside, surrounded by several computers. Amanda (Apprentice) was by the edge of the woods, pacing back and forth as she checked the conditions of the skies. Willy (Candyman) was in the graveyard, also scanning the skies and keeping a list of things to do and a watch next to him.

Pebbles' job was to simply keep monitor over the condition of the town. Her codename was Scribble.

Now everyone buzzed in, reporting conditions.

"Candyman to Skeleton! Conditions good here! And by the way, you're really weird."

"Skeleton to Candyman! …Oh, never mind."

"Scribble to Skeleton! Town's pretty damn empty over here."

"Bug to Skeleton! All systems go."

"Apprentice to Skeleton! Wait a few minutes for some cloud cover, it's too clear over here."

"Orpheus to Skeleton! Radar ready to go."

Jack cheered silently as he listened to the (very long) poem that the town had written for him. Suddenly everyone came in at once, not bothering to use codenames.

"Holy crap! What's with the fog!"

"Too much cover!"

"Oh noes!"

"That's not good."

"…did I leave the oven on?"

"PEBBLES!"

"Oh, sorry…OMIGOSH! OH NO! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

Jack saw the fog too, creeping in over the town and obscuring his vision. Everyone started complaining, but Sally was secretly smiling to herself.

Jack sighed and hid his face in his hands.

"There it goes. All of the effort, my hopes, my dreams…all ruined!"

A little light was shining on the ground. Looking down, he saw Zero grinning and yipping, his nose shining clearly in the fog. As if reading his mind, Cricket asked:

"Bug to Skeleton! Why not use Zero!"

"Great idea!"

Everyone cheered as Jack strapped zero into the sleigh. Erik, who had both the radar screen and a good view of the sleigh, said:

"Orpheus to Bug! He's got it!"

"Bug to Team! Launch commencing in T-minus 10…9…8…"

"ALL SYSTEMS FREAKIN' GO!"

As if on cue, Jack careened off of the runway, yelling to his reindeer and dog to go faster as they ascended into the sky. A little beep sounded as Erik hooked up to the sleigh.

(A/N: The rest of the chappie will now be in conversation.)

-------------------

"Apprentice to Skeleton. Keep steady, stay in the clouds."

…

"Steady…"

…

"Alright, break."

"WOOO! I can see everything up here!"

"Candyman to Skeleton! Let's boogie! Go to Sarah's house first, and then jet to Mike, and so on down the list."

"Scribble to Candyman. Should he forget the alphabetical order?"

"Good point. Forget the order that the names come in, just go. You might wanna spend no more than a minute at each house, you've got millions of other lil' children who want their gifts."

"Orpheus to Skeleton. You've got clear ground, and her house is in front of you."

"I see it!"

"Bug to Team! All systems are checked, and we're doing great!"

-various sounds as Jack descends and enters the house-

…

"Candyman to Skeleton! Give her a makeup kit, a teddy bear, and a Barbie doll."

"Scribble to Candyman! What if she wants a pair of skates and a hockey stick?" –giggles-

"Nah, I've got the list, she wants Barbies and stuff. Skeleton out."

…

…

…

"Skeleton read! I think she likes me!"

-screams are heard in backround-

"Scribble to Skeleton. Did you take your happy pills this morning?"

**Later in the night…**

-sigh- "Candyman to Skeleton. …give him a…a…video game…" –yawn-

-whispers-

"Scribble to Candyman. I've got a secret…"

"Whas tha?"

-Pebbles gets softer and softer with each word-

"It's the greatest secret ever…it's awesome…" –dies out-

"What? Whas it?" –Willy holds headset closer to ear-

-Pebbles shouts-

"WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"

**Even later…**

"Skeleton to Team! Okay, I'm in a bigger suburb! Lots of big cars, and metal buildings, and…"

"Bug to Skeleton! Jack, that's a military camp."

"Orpheus to Skeleton! They're looking for you, monsieur!"

-Erik and Cricket are ignored-

"Apprentice to Skeleton! Hide in the clouds!"

"Okay, I'll do it."

-explosions are heard-

"Listen, guys! They're celebrating! For us! Isn't that great?"

"Candyman to Skeleton. No!"

-explosion is heard close to radio-

"Woah! Careful down there! You almost hit us!"

"Scribble to Skeleton! That's the point!"

"What?"

"I said-"

"BUG TO SKELETON! ONE REINDEER JUST GOT SLEEPY HOLLOW'D!"

"Beheaded, Jack! Beheaded!"

"They're TRYING to hit us! Zero!"

-faraway bark-

"Apprentice to Team! Sugar, we're going down!"

-earsplitting boom is heard and static starts fizzling-

"Jack? JACK!"

-deafening silence for 10 minutes as static dies down-

"Bug to Team. Skeleton over and out for good."


	32. The Chorus

A/N: I can't believe I deleted Microsoft Word, 'cause WordPad is complete crap. Oh, well...guess I'll have to get used to it.

-stabs Microsoft and demands less vague filenames-

The Chorus

Jack was unconsious.

Lying in a statue's arms, unconsious...but alive. In a sense, that is.

Zero brought his missing jaw over and gently snapped it in place for him. Jack stirred, and his eyes opened halfway. The Walkie-Talkie in his hands crackled.

"Jack? Jack! JACK!"

He shook his head. No, he was gone into dust, he was simply hearing voices. The machine had broken in the crash and he was to lie here, until he wasted away or until someone found him, whatever came first.

"Team to Jack! Are you alive? Come on, man, speak!"

An earsplitting scream sounded, causing his eyes to fly fully open."Erik speaking, to hell with codenames! Are you alright, sir? Say something!"

Hesitantly he tried to speak, but it only came out as a groan.

"Pebbles here! Thank you, you're alive! Where are you, Jack? The whole town is freaking here, Cricket and Erik shut down their computers, and we're all together. Somehow all of our Walkie-Talkies shut down but mine, we have to share."

Jack sat up straight, his spine creaking. "I've failed. I completely messed things up. Christmas is ruined now, all because of me."

Absolute silence on the other end. Jack checked the power and saw that the device was still on.

He heard Pebbles singing softly.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes..."

Willy joined in.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand moments so dear..."

Next Cricket.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes..."

Amanda chimed in.

"How do you measure, measure a year?"

Now Erik sang.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughter and strife? In, five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes...how do you measure a year in the life?"

Jack started singing with the group.

"How about love...? How about love...? How about love...? Measure in love..."

A smile appeared on his face.

"Seasons of love!"

The group played out the harmony beautifully, hitting all of the right notes. Jack took over the solo, slowly rising frown his place on the statue.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes!"

He jumped off the statue, still singing.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand journeys to plan...five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes! How do you measure the life of a woman or man?"

Pebbles took over the next solo.

"In truths that she learned, or the times that he cried...in bridges he burned, or the way that she died!"

She held out the note for a while as the group continued.

"It's time now, to sing out, for the story never ends! Let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends!"

Everyone continued, Jack singing loudest.

"Remember the love...! Remember the love...! Remember the love...! Remember the love..."

Jack, suddenly knowing what he had to do, flew through the secret entrance into Halloween Town, Zero close by his side.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted/sang:

"Measure...measure your live in lo-oooooooooooooooooo!"

He spread the note out as the group kept singing. Out of nowhere Pebbles tackled him, still singing. The rest of the group followed suit, each tearing off a piece of Jack's torn Santa costume, revealing his old clothes.

Jack finished off.

"Measure your life...measure your life in love!"

---------------

A/N: A short lil' group song. I thought it would be cute to see the group sing "Seasons of Love" from Rent. The movie, ya know...

I have to do my homework, it's six pm. That's a new procrastinating record!


	33. The Showdown

A/N: -dances-

The Showdown

Jack and the others moved stealthily to Oogie's Hollow.

JAck had pointed out that he hadn't heard anything of Santa, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel were the people who had had the honor of taking him away to whereabouts unknown. Since the kids were chenchmen of Oogie's...

Yeah, the pieces all fit.

So here they were, running at top speed toward the deep edges of Halloween Town, Willy trying to keep up with everyone.

"Slow down!" he yelled at the group, but no one heard him. Erik, Pebbles, and Jack, the fastest ones in the group, were racing each other. Pebbles finally lost some steam and dropped back, but Erik was still going strong. He was slowly going ahead of Jack, his cape billowing in the wind. Jack's long legs gave him a bit of an advantage, but Erik's were almost as long and he was extremely skilled at speed.

They reached the bridge at the same time, neither breathing hard or sweating.

"I beat you," Erik smirked.

"We reached the bridge at the same time!" Jack raised an eyebrow at Erik, also smirking.

"Let's not argue, you crazy people," Cricket said, coming between them.

Pebbles peered down into the void with Amanda. "This is endless!"

Amanda reached over for a rope. "Let's go down this."

Willy finally reached them, panting heavily. "I'm not...good at...running..." He gave a great wheeze and stretched.

"Silly candyman, toughen up," Cricket said, giving him a great pat on the back, stealing a technique from Victor.

Pebbles noticed the reference and said, "Speaking of your dearly beloved..." She pointed down into the hole, her finger identifying a small, barred window set into the wall.

Jack wordlessly took the rope from Amanda and went down first, everyone following behind him.

Pebbles looked up at Erik. "Punjab!"

He took said piece of rope from his belt, smiling evilly.

She looked down to Amanda. "Arrows and bow?"

Amanda looked up and nodded.

"Willy and Cricket, whatever you can think of?"

"Yes!"

Finally they reached the window. One at a time they snuck through it, staring at the wall and not what was going on inside the room.

Jack jumped down stealthily, followed by Amanda, Willy, and Cricket. Erik went past Pebbles and also landed quietly, but Pebbles hissed to them, "To Daggerland with surprise!"

No sooner had the words left her lips that she landed, making the loudest thud that she could.

"Right, Oogie?"

Oogie whipped around from four people. He cackled.

"MORE guests? Come ON, you people are really too kind!"

"Well, I brought the sammiches, Amanda brought the soda, Erik brought the donuts, Willy brought the candy, and Cricket brought the presents. Now, whose birthday is it?"

Victor gave a yell from where he sat, chained to the wall.

"Pebbles! Cricket!"

Holli screamed with delight and tried to launch herself at the group, but was halted by her own bonds.

"DAMN IT!" she yelled, giving a glare towards Oogie.

Pebbles winked discreetely at Holli, and continued.

"Honestly, Oogie, release them. We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to," she said, quoting "Uglies" perfectly.

While she spoke, Erik readyed the lasso, Amanda drew up an arrow, Willy brought his cane up in a threatening manner, and Cricket raised her fists.

Oogie gave a laugh again.

"Really now...surely you can't beat me?"

"You're a freakin' burlap sack of bugs. BUGS, you idoit!" (A/N: NO, I didn't spell "idiot" wrong...that was on purpose.)

Erik whispered in her ear. "But they can be poisonous."

"Who cares?"

Pebbles gave a signal.

Everyone took off in different directions, hoping that they could distract Oogie. But Pebbles and Cricket had the same destination: Victor and Holli.

As Amanda let off a barrage of arrows, Pebbles and Cricket worked the chains and locks frantically, Victor and Holli helping in the best way that they could.

"This lock goes that way, Pebbles."

No sooner had Holli said it that the chains fell loose, and Holli removed the shackles from her wrists. Now they moved to Victor, helping in the same way that they had released Holli. Fortunately, Oogie's system wasn't too complicated at all, and Victor was released.

"Victor, left. Holli, right. Now go!"

As they ran, Pebbles went in the place she had quickly identified. As if on cue, the roulette wheel they were standing on started turning, and the deadly stack of cards came up from the ground, knives sticking out and spinning quicker than the speed of sound.

She sighed and stuck her iPod earphones into her ears.

"Showtime."

The entire group started dodging knife after knife, following Jack's lead. Cricket drew a dagger she happened to have and started hacking at a card. It smoked and burst into flames, but soon died down and crumpled. She moved onto the next one.

Willy took her idea and started doing the same thing to the cards near him, this time using his cane. Soon everyone was doing their best to hack the cards, anyone without a pointy object simply grabbing the bases of the knives and ripping them out with all of their might. As a few cards stood left, Oogie flipped another switch. Before anyone could reach them, the cards drew in their knives and backed away, and the roulette wheel slowed down a little.

Everyone started to aproach Oogie, but he cried, "FIRE!"

Bullets started firing, and Willy, Victor, Cricket, and Holli ducked, disabling the bases of the gunfighters this time. Jack, Pebbles, Amanda, and Erik jumped up onto the guns, ripping out those and bending and twisting the guns. Erik found that by strangling the gunfighters as if they were real people, he could rip off the heads and disable the entire machine. He used this tactic and managed to "kill" several in a few seconds.

Oogie caught on more quickly this time and, without warning, the gunfighters retreated. The group leaped off or backed away, depending on where they were.

Sally, who the group hadn't noticed, yelled, "Look out!"

Without thinking, everyone ducked, Willy taking off his hat. A buzzsaw came within inches of their heads, and they sighed with relief.

Oogie wasn't amused. He reached for another switch...

But Pebbles kicked him down.

It may seem impossible, but she did it.

A sneaker on his stomach, she uncapped her pen and held it menacingly in front of Oogie's face. He tried to suck it in, but she pressed down harder on his middle, blocking off any deep intake of air.

"Do you know ANYthing?"

"I've got no idea what you mean!"

Pebbles sliced part of his face. His extreme cry of pain told her that it really affected him.

"Talk, you piece of garbage."

"No!"

Pebbles again sliced him, this time near the neck. He yelled even more.

"Al...right!"

"Talk!"

He tried to take in some air. Knowing that he wasn't trying to suck in the pen, Pebbles relieved her hold a little bit, then replaced it.

"There's a place called Infinity. Not that far from here, just a couple of miles. There's this organization called Shadow there. I-"

"You what?"

"...work for it."

Pebbles had her informaton. She gave a great war-like yell, then stabbed her pen deep into his chest, ripping it down through his middle, then releasing it.

Oogie tried to scream, but no sound came out. He suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving a note fluttering in his place.

She grabbed it and read it, breathing heavily.

_Ask Jack._

Jack was reading over her shoulder. He grinned sheepishly at Pebbles.

"I knew."


	34. The Gifts

A/N: -meeep-

The Gifts

"You...?"

"I knew, yes."

Cricket piped up, "Then why didn't you tell us?"

"I couldn't, I wasn't supposed to. Now, first things first..."

Jack released Sally and Santa from their own bonds. Sally hugged everyone, saying about how grateful she was, but Santa was a little unhappy.

"Santa, I-" Jack wordlessly handed Santa his hat.

"Rough sleigh ride, Jack?" Santa grabbed his hat back, frowning at Jack. "Next time, think twice before taking over someone else's holiday!"

He waddled off, bidding goodnight to the group.

"But is there still time?"

Sanat whirled around to face Jack, his eyes wide. "To save Christmas? Of course! I'm Santa Claus! Now give these children their gifts!"

As he flew away (A/N: WTF.), Jack, ignoring Erik's, Willy's, and Victor's yells about how they weren't children, tried to get everyone arranged in a line.

"Gifts? What gifts?" Holli asked, her eyes lighting up nonetheless at the idea of presents.

"I'm supposed to give you all presents."

Erik raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Jack sighed and smiled wearily. "Let's start with you, then. Erik, I give you the gift of my friendship."

He stuck out his bony hand and Erik, after giving him an odd look, understood and smiled a little, shaking Jack's skeletal hand with his own black gloved one.

"This way, no matter what, you'll know that there's someone out there who'll always be by your side."

Jack turned to Amanda, who giggled.

"Amanda, I give you the gift of confidence. You're going to start high school soon and I want you to start on a fresh foot."

He hugged Amanda, who playfully shot the rest of the group a weirded-out look. Everyone laughed.

"Holli and Willy, then! I give you both the gift of endless creativity."

Holli and Willy gasped excitedly, exchanging amazed glances.

"You both will be working together and this way, you will never lose money."

Jack patted Cricket's head.

"Cricket, I give you amazing stealth. Instead of tripping over your sneakers..." He nodded his head at Cricket's shoes. "You will now be able to move very quietly without making a sound."

Jack turned to Victor next. Victor's eyes sparkled with nervousness.

"Victor, bravery is in store for you. You'll still retain your shy, slightly cowardly nature, but it'll be easier for you to face creepy things now."

Victor smiled and bowed. "Thank you, sir!"

"And now for our writer..."

Jack turned to a grinning Pebbles.

"Pebbles, I give you my guard."

He rummaged in his pocket and brought out a necklace on an orange rope. On it sparkled an orange, metallic pumpkin, looking pleasantly cartoony. He bent down and put it around Pebbles' neck.

"You will meet many people on this journey. Know who they are and pay them heed, for they might have the key to your soul."

With his last words, a black door appeared next to him, and he gestured to it.

Pebbles squealed and gave Jack a rib-crushing hug. "Bye, Jack!"

Everyone bid goodbye to each other, Holli wishing Sally and Jack luck together. There were hugs and a few tears (Erik even kissed Sally's hand) before Pebbles opened the door and was sucked in with her group, one by one into Infinity.

---------------

A/N: Cheesy, I know. But keep their gifts in mind, and prepare for a REAAAAAALY long chapter next!

There's only about 3 chappies left until the story is finished...wow...


	35. The Fights

A/N: Can you say CLIMAX? -trumpets-

Oh, and by the way...the titles of the fights are the songs they're singing to, and Cricket and Victor are the only ones who are still stop-motion animation. The rest are normal humans again.

The Fights

-------------

**Fight One- Behind These Hazel Eyes (Joe Bermudez/Josh Harris Radio Remix)**

Erik and Amanda opened their eyes. Both felt as if they had been hit in the head by a truck.

"Erik..."

Amanda noticed that she was in different clothing. She looked down to find...

She was in a very odd looking outfit. It was a pure white dress with some considerable cleavage, which came to a point. The point had a little white clip with a black heart on it. The dress was short, and her legs were covered in black and white striped tights. On her feet were white rubber boots with black soles which were surprisingly easy to manuever in. The short sleeves were off her shoulders and came about a quarter down to her forearm, and ended in black fabric. The rest of her arm was bare, and she found she was holding a white staff with a black tip at one end. The other end was curled and, when Amanda flicked the staff, a little green spark came off the tip. She found she was wearing a tattered, short black cape and a black and white pointed hat was perched on her head. When looking in one of the many mirrors in the black room they were in, she found that a light black blush was on her suddenly pale cheeks.

Amanda turned to Erik, who groaned and shifted, his eyes opening. He was wearing the exact opposite of what Amanda was wearing, colorwise. He sported dark black robes that fell all the way down to the tips of his black boots, this time with white soles. A small white heart was on his black belt. His sleeves were long and ringed with white, and his staff was white with a black tip, curled at the other end like Amanda's. His gloves were no loinger on his hands. A white hat was on his head, swirled with black.

Realizing something was wrong, his hand flew to the right side of his face, and met diseased skin instead of the reassuring porcelain of his white mask.

"No...!"

A girl's voice boomed over an invisible loudspeaker.

"Sorry, Erik. No masks in this battledome."

Like a cue, a gigantic green monster formed out of the thin air. It's black eyes found the two wizards, and it's smooth skin rippled as it growled deeply.

"You two will be battling envY."

The voice vanished, and the green monster roared, shattering some of the mirrors that were on the wall.

Erik and Amanda exhanged horrified glances and dared to exchange a few whispers.

"How do we kill THAT thing?"

"Heck if I know."

"Music?"

"Shoot."

Both transported themselves through the air onto opposite sides of the monster. Erik snapped his fingers, taking advantage of his new powers, and a little bit of a beat came on. Judging by the jolty guitar, it was clearly a remix he was aiming at.

"Sing!" he mouthed to Amanda as he took aim and dared to shoot a large fireball at envY.

Amanda gulped, and started letting out a few notes. It wasn't long before she let out the first few lyrics.

_Seems like just yesterday...you were a part of me..._

The monster whirled around to find Amanda. It growled and swiped at Amanda, missing her by about an inch. Amanda grabbed her hat and ran around it, shooting and singing as she went.

_I used to stand so tall...I used to be so strong._

_Your arms around me tight, everything, it felt so right_

_Unbreakable, like nothing could go wrong._

She slowed down and allowed the monster to chase her, dodging its blows expertly.

_Now I can't breathe_

_No, I can't sleep_

_I'm barely hangin' on..._

She aimed and fired a particularly large spell, which hit envY right in the face. It shrieked in pain and swiped at its face, which now had a large burnmark. Amanda kept going.

_Here I am, once again!_

_I'm torn into pieces!_

_Can't deny it, can't pretend!_

_Just thought you were the one!_

She took a shot at envY's claw and missed this time, causing the monster to be angered. (While all this was happening, Erik was planning his attack as he stayed behind the monster.)

_Broken up, deep inside!_

_But you won't get to see the tears I cry!_

Erik and her switched spots by teleporting. Erik finished for her.

_Behind these hazel eyes!_

Now he did a constant shooting attack as he ran behind the monster, taking care to let it follow him with its black eyes.

_I told you everything...opened up and let you in..._

_You made me feel alright for once in my life..._

_Now all that's left of me is what I pretend to be_

_So together, but so broken up inside._

He used the tip of his staff to take a physical slice at the monster's tail. It shrieked in pain again, so angry now that it chased Erik around the large room that they were locked in.

_'Cause I can't breathe_

_No, I can't sleep_

_I'm barely hangin' on..._

He ran up the wall and flipped off of it, shooting at envY's back as he went. He got two perfect shots in, leaving large, gaping holes where he shot.

_Here I am, once again!_

_I'm torn into pieces!_

_Can't deny it, can't pretend!_

He landed on his feet without making a sound.

_Just thought you were the one!_

_Broken up, deep inside!_

The monster finally turned to face it, growling deeper than ever. It had rammed its head into the many walls of mirrors, and a few pieces of glass were stuck in its head.

_But you won't get to see the tears I cry!_

He touched staffs with Amanda, and they sang together:

_Behind these hazel eyes!_

Now they transported to spot after spot, taking one shot before moving to another place, hoping to confuse the creature. Both sang together.

_Swallow me, then spit me out?_

_For hating you, I blame myself!_

_Seeing you, it KILLS me now!_

_No, I don't cry on the outside..._

Both ended up at the same place, right in front of envY. They sang the shrillest, highest notes they could.

_Anymooore!_

It shrieked louder than ever this time, falling over backwards. It struggled on the ground, failing to get back up on its feet. Erik and Amanda took the opportunity to hack at it, both physically and with magic.

_Here I am, once again!_

_I'm torn into pieces!_

_Can't deny it, can't pretend! _

_Just thought you were the one!_

_Broken up, deep inside!_

Erik nodded to Amanda, who ran up to the monster's chest, stopping where its heart was and singing alone.

She plunged her staff deep into the monster's heart, yelling now.

_But you won't get to see the tears I CRYYYY!_

The monster whimpered, and disappeared, leaving Amanda to fall about 9 feet. She landed hard on the floor, squeaking a little because of the impact.

Erik crossed his arms and finished.

_Behind these hazel eyes..._

They vanished, leaving the room to melt into shadows.

------------------

**Fight Two- What You Waiting For?**

Willy stumbled a little bit, groaning. At the same time that he groaned, he heard another one.

Holli.

He tried to cry out, but Holli cried out with him. Both spoke at the same time.

"You're checkered!"

And both looked down at their bodies.

Holli and Willy were in checkered jumpsuits. Not only that, but their skin was checkered in black and white as well, along with their hair. Their eyes were both a shade of black, matching their wild attires. Both sported black and white jester's hats on their heads that, even when they swung their heads, stayed on firmly. The pattern stayed on throughout, as if someone had painted over them without realizing that they were painting on a person.

Both stood together, and noticed that Holli's pattern blended into Willy's perfectly.

The trouble was that they could only move and talk in unison.

"What do we do?"

They took a look around the large room they were in. It was covered in colorful swirls, which meant that they stood out perfectly.

A girl's voice started talking over a loudspeaker.

"Care to scrap with doubT?"

The voice vanished.

A shadow took form in the middle of the large room, its eyes glowing a deep yellow. Its antennas twitched as it gazed upon the pair, and a crooked, barely visible grin came upon its face.

Holli and Willy gulped, and a piano started playing out of nowhere. They sang together.

_What an amazing time..._

_What a family..._

_How did the years go by?_

_Now its only me..._

They ran to either side of the monster, and stood facing one another across the room. The shadow simply watched from one to the other, wondering in silent amusement what they would do next. The beat became much faster.

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..._

Both ran under the shadow, slapping hands with one another as they went. Now they circled it, both singing in unison.

_Like a cat in heat stuck in a moving car!_

_A scary conversation, shut my eyes, can't find the brake..._

They turned to the thin air and started talking to it like it was a real person.

_What if they say that you're a climber?_

They turned to the other side, answering for the air.

_Naturally I'm worried if I do it alone!_

They turned back.

_Who really cares, 'cause it's your life, you never know! It could be great!_

They both stuck out a hand and touched doubT. It let out a wail, and as they removed their hands, they saw that a checkerboard pattern was left where their hand had been. They looked at their hands, and found that they could move it without having to be in unison with each other; not only that, but it was normal.

They grinned and kept going.

_Take a chance 'cause you might grow!_

_Oh, oh oh..._

Now they ran around, connecting every part of their hands with doubT, causing it to wail even more.

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin' for?_

Now they tried their arms. Slowly their old arms and hands returned.

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin' for?_

Now doubT concentrated on something as the jesters kept ticking and tocking. They heard a hissing voice in their heads.

"Take a chance, you stupid hoe!"

Suddenly they felt weak, like they couldn't go on. But the mental blow wasn't too bad, and they went on, trying not to let doubT hack at their brains.

_Like an echopedal, you're repeating yourself!_

_You know it all by heart, why are you standing in one place?_

They heard doubT's voice in their heads as their arms went back to normal with their hands.

"Born to blossom, bloom to PERISH!"

Holli and Willy sneered in unison, blowing the attack off, even though their arms suddenly felt heavy with exhaustion.

_Your memory will run out 'cause of your sex chromosome!_

They looked at each other and pretended to whisper as they ran up doubT.

_I know, it's so messed up how our society all thinks for sure..._

They faced doubT again.

_Life is short, you're capable!_

_Oh, oh oh..._

The shadow was screaming in their heads as they worked on their feet and legs.

"Look at your watch now!"

Holli and Willy felt confusion clutter their heads. Looking at each other, they replied.

_You're still a super hot female!_

The confusion was still there, and they tried to fight through it as they finished their feet and legs and tried their torsos.

"You've got your million dollar contract! And I'm still waiting for your hot track!"

Their hearts felt heavy this time, and the confusion became thicker than ever.

Suddenly they thought, "Why am I doing this? This is hopeless!"

They looked at each other for support, and the feeling would leave for a few seconds before returning, allowing them to keep working on their torsos.

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin'_

_Whatcha waitin' for?_

They jumped off the shadow's back. Not only was doubT's back now covered in checkerboard squares, but the only thing that wasn't them was their heads and hair; they had their clothes, their skin, their own actions back. They held hands and kept their eyes glued together as doubT mockingly shouted back.

"Whatcha waitin', whatcha waitin', whatcha waitin', whatcha waitin', whatcha waitin' for?"

They slowly sang together, feeling unattractive now as they worked on their hair and faces.

_I can't wait to go back into Japan_

_Get me lots of brand new fans_

_Osaka, Tokyo, you Harajuku girls..._

All of them returned back; they were now perfectly Holli and Willy again. The hats were even gone. They looked at each other and grinned as they sang together.

_Damn, you've got some wicked style..._

_Go!_

They ran around doubT, now physically tearing at its skin...or what's supposed to be its skin. The shadow tried every weapon it had now.

"Look at your watch now!"

Willy yelled at Holli to remove the frown that had come on her face.

"You're still a super hot female!"

The shadow mentally attacked Willy, and he slipped. Holli shouted, "You've got your million dollar contract!"

Willy smiled weakly, and they faced Shadow and shouted.

"AND WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOUR HOT TRACK!"

They let Gwen Stefani take over their singing as they focused all of their confusion, hopelessness, and pain upon doubT. Slowly it filtered from their minds, and they felt happy and cheerful once again. The shadow gave a shout as their pain went into it, and it finally collapsed onto the ground as the song faded away and the pair and room vanished.

To this day, they still never finished their song.

------------------

**Fight Three- Shut Up**

Victor shook his head to clear it. He heard Cricket stretching next to him and an exhausted sigh escaped her mouth. He looked at her, and his eyes widened.

Cricket was dressed as an Arabian thief, as was he. Her pants were a very, very light pink and they were baggy, and she wore white slippers that curled up at the ends. Her thin stomach was exposed, and her shirt matched her pants (light pink, baggy long sleeves) but was decent enough to cover up her chest nicely. A light pink, transparent veil was draped over her mouth, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. A matching sword was in her bare hands.

He was wearing a long sleeved, white, closed shirt, with one of the sleeves rolled up to show a scarab bug tattoo on his left arm. Gloves with no fingers were on his hands, so his bare fingers poked out of the black leather. A brown, open vest was on top of his shirt, reaching down all the way to his blue pants, which were so long that they were rolled up enough to fully expose his own brown, curled slippers. A sword like Cricket's was in his hand, and he reached up to feel his hair. It was his normal style again, put up with his old bang still sticking out.

He spoke, his English accent still there, even with the new getup. "Cricket, do you have any idea where we are?"

Cricket in response took a look around. "Some really, really big room, bigger than the lunchroom at school. That's saying something."

Victor took a look around as well. "It's freezing in here! There's snow and ice in the corners!"

A girl's voice was heard from nowhere in particular.

"Forget the ice. Check out my friend, feaR."

Something appeared in the middle of the room. It was a giant...

Tarantula? (Forgive me, I'm running out of ideas.)

Its eight eyes were a threatening red, and its "fur" was jet black. Its large pincers snapped open and closed hungrily as it found the thieves.

Victor remembered what Jack had said, and remembered his gift: Bravery. He shook as he glared at the large arachnid, and he barely heard a guitar starting to play rock.

Cricket shouted, "Victor! Go!"

A thought crossed his mind: I have no idea how that giant spider got there. Whatever it is, it's going DOWN.

He started singing as he brandished his sword.

_There you go!_

_You're always so right!_

_It's all a big show!_

_It's all about YOU!_

He walked toward it fearlessly, looking it straight into its eight eyes. It hissed as he came closer, with his sword still brandished.

_You think you know what everyone needs!_

_You always take time to criticize me!_

He bravely took a slash at feaR, and cut part of what was supposedly part of its face. It shrieked and as Victor took off quickly, Cricket jumped from one part of the room, taking over for Victor.

_It seems like everyday I make mistakes!_

_I just can't get it right!_

_It's like I'm the one you love to hate!_

She jumped fromm the wall, her sword out in front of her.

_But not today!_

Victor and Cricket started slashing at feaR, trying every part they could reach and singing in unison.

_So shut up, shut up, shut up!_

_Don't wanna hear it!_

_Get out, get out, get out, get out of my way!_

_Step up, step up, step up, you'll never stop me!_

_Nothing you say today is gonna bring me down!_

There was a small guitar break in which feaR bit them in varios places, injecting not venom, but liquid fear into their arms. They fought off the feeling togethe, now constantly singing together as they kept dodging feaR.

_There you go!_

_You never ask why!_

_It's all a big lie!_

_Whatever you do!_

They stepped in front of the beast and sung at it.

_You think you're special!_

Victor spoke up.

_But I know!_

Then Cricket.

_And I know!_

Then Victor.

_And I know!_

Together they sneered in its face.

_And we know!_

_That you're not!_

They started bouncing off the walls and ceiling, making feaR lose track of where exactly they were.

_You're always there to point out my mistakes!_

_And shove them in my face!_

_It's like I'm the one you love to hate!_

_But not today!_

They attacked feaR once again, this time digging the swords into its back, neck, and legs. The beast shrieked in pain and tried to attack the thieves, but they now knew its tactics and dodged expertly.

_So shut up, shut up, shut up!_

_Don't wanna hear it!_

_Get out, get out, get out, get out of my way!_

_Step up, step up, step up, you'll never stop me!_

_Nothing you say today is gonna bring me down!_

_Is gonna bring me down!_

_Will never bring me down!_

The music slowed down, and Cricket whispered in Victor's ear, "Go on Victor. Get it."

He walked slowly up to feaR, who was whimpering because of the pain but hissed nonetheless in Victor's face. It tried to bite him, but Victor plunged his sword into one of his eyes.

_Don't tell me who I should be!_

He did two other eyes.

_And don't try to tell me what's right for me!_

He stabbed another eye, then another, and two more.

_Don't tell me what I should do!_

He brought his sword up, and shouted.

_I don't wanna waste my time!_

He stabbed the middle eye deeply, forgetting the beast's cries of pain.

_I'll watch you fade awaaaaaay!_

He took his sword away, breathing deeply.

_So shut up, shut up, shut up, don't wanna hear it._

He quickly sliced off the two fangs as Cricket started slicing the body quickly and expertly.

_Get out, get out, get out, get out of my way!_

_Step up, step up, step up, you'll never stop me!_

_Nothing you say today is gonna bring me down!_

The song finished up as they disappeared, feaR melted away, and the room vanished.

------------------

**As for Pebbles...**

Pebbles was in a small room, sitting on a chair. She looked back to see that the door she had come through was still locked shut, and she sighed.

"Pebbles?"

She turned to face forward, and saw TK standing in front of her. She smiled wearily.

"Your friends are fighting right now, they should be done soon."

She gulped. "Who are they fighting?"

"They have been split into pairs and given temporary powers. The Opera Ghosts are fighting envY, the Chocolatiers are fighting doubT, and the Victorians are fighting feaR."

"But why aren't I fighting?"

TK smiled again. "Miss Amanda, you'll be getting your fair share of fighting during this sort of quest. Whoever runs Infinity didn't give you a monster to fight, maybe because they're saving you for later, so to speak."

Pebbles nodded. "Okay...are they alright?"

A group of people walked into the room as Pebbles asked this question.

Together they shouted, "Heck yes!"

----------------

A/N: -dies-


	36. The Goodbyes

A/N: -is revived-

OMFG. That took so long to write. Keeping Google open for lyrics, thinking up names, actions, playing the songs...

Anyway, these are the last two chapters!

The Goodbyes

Pebbles burst form her chair and hugged every member of the group, crying.

"Are you alright? How are you guys?"

Everyone mumbled a "Fine", some rubbing their wounds. Each looked at one another, and saw that they were all normal. Holli hugged Victor, Erik kissed Cricket's hand, and Willy patted Amanda's shoulder, each congratulating the others and talking about how it was.

TK smiled at the reunion and, when everyone was settled down, she adressed them.

"Everyone, say your goodbyes. This part of the journey is over."

The group started saying goodbye, some crying, others kissing each other, some simply hugging. Victor and Holli actually kissed each other on the lips shortly.

"Don't worry, Holli, you'll be safe with Willy," he whispered to her, looking her sadly in the eye. Holli's eyes filled up with tears and she hugged him again.

Holli and Willy were the first to go. They went through a seperate door entitled "HatCF" and disappeared, leaving behind a crying Victor and a disappointed group.

Erik and Amanda left next. They gave a short goodbye to the group and left through another door with a sign that said "RU".

Victor and Cricket left last, giving hugs and their best wishes to Pebbles. Cricket and Pebbles did the French greeting for girls (fake-kissing one another on either cheek), and Victor gave Pebbles a long hug and a kiss on the forehead before they left through the door that said "T3G".

Pebbles looked at TK, the only one left now. TK gave her a nod and pointed to the last door.

She gave TK a hug and went through it.

She found herself back in her room, back to reality, back to life.


	37. The End

A/N: THIS IS THE END! OMG! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED BOOST THIS STORY ALONG!

Now here it is. Simply song lyrics, but if you want a preview of the sequel, read them.

These words are my own

Threw some chords together  
The combination D-E-F  
It's who I am, is what I do  
And I was gonna lay it down for you  
Try to focus my attention  
But I feel so A-D-D  
I need some help, some inspiration  
(But it's not coming easily)  
Whoah oh!

Trying to find the magic  
Trying to write a classic  
Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know?  
Waste-bin full of paper  
Clever rhymes, see you later

These words are my own  
From my heart flow  
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you  
There's no other way  
To better say  
I love you, I love you...

Read some Byron, Shelly and Keats  
Recited it over a Hip-Hop beat  
I'm having trouble saying what I mean  
With dead poets and drum machines  
I know I had some studio time booked  
But I couldn't find a killer hook  
Now you've gone & raised the bar right up  
Nothing I write is ever good enough

These words are my own  
From my heart flow  
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you  
There's no other way  
To better say  
I love you, I love you!

I'm getting off my stage  
The curtains pull away  
No hyperbole to hide behind  
My naked soul exposes  
Whoah.. oh.. oh.. oh.. Whoah.. oh..

Trying to find the magic  
Trying to write a classic  
Waste-bin full of paper  
Clever rhymes, see you later

These words are my own  
From my heart flow  
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you

That's all I got to say,  
Can't think of a better way,  
And that's all I've got to say,  
I love you, is that okay?


End file.
